YALE  LECTURES 


PREACHIN  G 


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HALL   D.D. 


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sological   Seminary.. 

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PRINCETON,    N.  J. 

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A     DONATION 


Hall,    John,    1829-1898. 
God's   word    through   preachi 


GOD'S   WORD 

Through  Preaching. 

THE  LYMAN  BEECHER  LECTURES  BEFORE 

THE  THEOLOGICAL  DEPARTMENT 

OF  YALE  COLLEGE. 

{FOURTH  SERIES.) 

BT 

JOHN^HALL,   D.D. 


NEW  YORK : 

DODD   &   MEAD,  PUBLISHERS, 

751  Beoadway. 


Copyright,  Dodd  &  Mbad,  1875. 


From  the  Records  of  the  Corporation  of  Tale  College, 
April  13,  1871. 

"Voted  to  accept  the  offer  of  Mr.  Henry  W.  Sage,  of  New 
York  City,  of  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars  for  the  founding 
of  a  lectureship  in  the  Theological  Department,  on  a  branch 
of  Pastoral  Theology,  to  be  designated  '  The  Lyman  Beecher 
Lectureship  on  Preaching,'  to  be  filled  from  time  to  time,  upon 
the  appointment  of  this  Corporation,  by  a  minister  of  the  gos- 
pel, of  any  evangelical  denomination,  who  has  been  markedly 
successful  in  the  special  work  of  the  Christian  ministry." 


Yale  College,  Theological  Department, 
March  11, 1875. 
Rev.  John  Hall,  D.D.  : 

Dear  Sir : — Allow  us  to  thank  you  in  our  own  behalf,  and  in 
behalf  of  the  Theological  Seminary  under  our  care,  for  the 
course  of  lectures  which  you  have  just  completed.  The  Ly- 
man-Beecher  Lectureship  on  Preaching  will  be  of  inestimable 
value  to  the  churches,  if,  year  after  year,  it  shall  continue  to 
bear  such  fruit. 

You  have  seen  the  close  and  delighted  attention  with  which 
our  students,  and  not  a  few  others — most  of  them  working 
ministers  of  the  Gospel — have  listened  to  these  lectures.  You 
have  been  giving — in  your  own  style,  simple,  lucid,  and  forcible 


— not  a  theory  or  science  of  Homiletics  deduced  from  your  study 
of  great  preachers,  ancient  and  modern,  but  (in  accordance  with 
the  intention  of  the  generous  founder)  practical  counsels,  drawn 
from  your  own  experience  through  a  long  and  eminently  suc- 
cessful ministry  begun  in  your  native  country,  and  continued 
with  undiminished  fidelity  in  ours  which  has  adopted  you.  We 
are  sure  that  these  young  men,  dispersed  as  they  will  soon  be 
over  the  breadth  of  the  continent,  and  some  of  them  into  other 
lands,  will  be  better  ministers,  both  in  the  pulpit  and  out  of  it, 
for  what  they  have  heard  from  you — better  in  the  highest  sense, 
for  what  we  have  valued  most  of  all  in  these  lectures  is  the 
deep  and  healthy  religious  impression  which  they  have  left 
upon  the  hearers. 

We  are  happy  to  learn  that  the  lectures  are  soon  to  be  pub- 
lished, and  we  are  confident  that  the  ministry  generally,  of  all 
denominations,  and  especially  young  ministers,  will  thank  God 
for  the  grace  that  has  been  given  to  you  for  this  good  work. 

We  are,  with  much  respect  and  affection,  your  brethren  in 
the  Gospel, 

Leonard  Bacon, 
George  E.  Day, 
Samuel  Harris, 
James  M.  Hoppin, 
George  P.  Fisher, 
Timothy  Dwight. 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


These  lectures  were  written  to  be  spoken,  not 
read.  It  was  not  possible  to  suspend  the  necessary 
labors  of  a  pastor  in  order  to  seek  elegance  of  style, 
or  abundance  of  authority  or  of  illustration,  even  if 
such  had  been  possible  to  the  author,  or  desirable  in 
the  lectures.  A  colloquial  expression,  or  a  homely 
illustration  has  not  been  rejected,  if  it  seemed  to  set 
out  the  idea  to  be  conveyed.  The  main  object  has 
been  to  give  and  suggest  thought,  to  magnify  the  divine 
word  as  the  preacher's  instrument,  and  to  point  out 
the  methods  in  which  it  is  to  be  employed  in  preach- 
ing. 

In  undertaking  this  important  and  responsible  task, 
the  lecturer  did  not,  and  does  not  now,  think  himself 
fitted  for  its  execution.  He  was  overruled  by  the 
judgment  of  others.  But,  in  its  progress,  he  was 
much  encouraged  by  the  Professors  of  the  Divinity 
School ;  by  generous  appreciation  from  those  whose 
names  give  lustre  to  Tale  College  (even  so  much 


2  PREFATOBT  NOTE. 

identification  with  wliicli  will  always  be  a  grateful 
memory) ;  but  more  than  all,  by  the  serious  and 
thoughtful  attention  given  by  the  students. 

To  the  young  bretliren,  then,  first  of  all  of  the  Yale 
Divinity  School,  and  next  to  the  other  candidates  for 
the  ministry  in  America,  however  described  by 
Church  connection — if  they  will  please  to  read  with 
candor  what  is  designed  in  Christian  love — these 
pages  are  affectionately  and  respectfully  dedicated, 
with  the  prayer  that  the  blessing  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
may  give  efficacy  to  so  much  truth  as  is  here  set 
forth,  to  the  glory  of  our  common  Lord  and  Master, 
Jesus  Christ. 

New  York,  March,  1875. 


CONTENTS. 


LECTUEE  I. 

Objects  of  Lectures — Idea  of  tlie  Cliurcli — When  the  Church 
Began — Nature  of  Church-claim — The  Church's  Name 
— Significance  of  Name — Who  shall  Teach — Church-Rites 
— Ministers  Dispense  Ordinances — The  Idea  of  the 
Ministry — The  Commission — Not  Plenipotentiaries — Nor 
Scientific  Preachers — Guesses  at  Truth — Authority  in 
Teaching — Not  Day-dreaming — Risk  of  Reaction — Church 
Authority  —  Ritualism  —  Sacerdotalism  —  Regard  to  the 
Times — Truth  admits  of  Test — Knowing  in  Ourselves — 
The  Tongue  of  Fire 7-31 

LECTURE  IL 

Pastors,  Not  Evangelists — Ministry  not  a  Caste — Know  the 
People — Go  to  their  Homes — Pastoral  Visits — Love  the 
People — Be  Known  by  the  People — Children  of  the 
Cliurch — Young  Men  and  Maidens — Pulpit  Topics — Pulpit 
Illustrations — A  Necessary  Bridge — Taking  Trouble — 
Creating  Power — Missed  from  Church — The  Lapsing  Mass- 
es— Cure  of  Souls — Growing  Congregations — Brief  Pastor- 
ates— Close  to  the  People — Devoted  Ministers — Genuine 
Men — The  Man  of  Sorrows 32-55 

LECTURE  III. 

Our  Position — A  Necessary  Evil — The  Children's  Bread — 
Repent  and  Believe — Good  Confession — Quality  not  Quan- 
tity— No  Other  Name — Christ  the  Sun — Jesus  Only — Com- 
plete in  Him — The  Central  Figure — Scripture  Exposition 


4  CONTENTS. 

— False  Ideals — Extempore — One  Direction — For  Example 
—Mental  Pictures— Feed  the  Flock— Light  and  Heat— The 
Highest  Themes — Let  them  Alone— What  Men  Want — 
Commending  the  Truth — Our  Royal  Master 5G-80 

.  LECTURE  IV. 

Preserve  Health — An  Educated  Man — Intelligence  Required 
— Confidence  Commanded — Classics  for  Clergymen — The 
Languages  of  Scripture — Do  not  Rationalize — Preach,  not 
Argue — Fruitful  Fields — Unjust  Estimates — Teach  the 
People — Results,  not  Processes — -Approaching  Controversy 
— A  Corrected  Estimate — Value  of  Church  History — Know 
your  Bibles — ^Apt  Quotation— Bible  Language  Best — Skill 
in  Teaching — Learn  from  the  Lawyers — Learn  to  be  Con- 
tent— A  Man's  Real  Life — Personal  Devoutness — Christian 
Fellowship 81-105 

LECTURE  V. 

Preparing  a  Sermon — Preachers,  not  Priests — Mechanical 
Preaching — With  the  Understanding — And  of  the  Clouds 
— On  the  People's  Level — Impressions  Remembered — 
Adequate  Themes — Bits  of  Scenery — New  Sermons  on  Old 
Texts— Truth  Rightly  Divided — Study  Fitness— Fidelity 
To-day — True  Preparation — In  the  Mood — Preachers,  not 
Actors — Where  we  Belong — A  Plea  for  the  Pen — Taking 
One's  Own  Measure — Great  Speakers — Brilliant  Excep- 
tions— The  Spur  of  the  Moment — The  Authorities — Ser- 
mons Consecrated — Glory  in  the  Lord 106-130 

LECTURE  VI. 

Close  Reading — Two  Sides  to  the  Question — Good  Reading 
— Memorizing — Defects  of  the  Plan — Speak  Naturally — 
From  Notes — A  more  Excellent  Way — A  Test  of  Good 
Sermons — In  Black  and  "Wliite — Apostolic  Example — 
Sermon  at  Athens — The  Sons  of  the  Prophets — With  a 
Difference— The  Way  of  the  Fathers — Dry  Bones— Mean- 


CONTENTS.  5 

ing,  and  its  Utterance — Cool  Blood — High  Examples — 
Two  Great  Preachers — A  Wilderness — Modern  Masters — 
Dr.  James  W.  Alexander — Let  the  Words  Alone — Mind  in 
a  Libration — Like  a  Meeting  Minister — Welsh  Fire. .  131-158 

LECTURE  VII. 

Authority  of  the  Word— Doubtful  Disputations — Words  in 
Season — Against  the  Stream — Looking  Right  on — For- 
bearing Threatening — The  Redeemer's  Tears — Speak  Well 
— Vivacity  of  Style — No  Stage-tricks — Grave  with  Grave 
Matters— Heart  and  Tongue— Dear  Hearers — An  Old 
Master— Light  and  Love — In  the  Face  of  Jesus— The 
Divine  Appeal 159-176 

LECTURE  VIII. 

A  Portion  to  Each — All  Scripture  for  All— Enlist  the  Men — 
Children  at  the  Table — Factitious  Interest — Competitive 
Preaching — Occasional  Sermons — Measuring  Men— Fu- 
neral Sermons — Connected  Discourses — A  Series  of  Ser- 
mons—The Bible  Unknown — The  Inductive  Method — The 
Facts  and  the  Texts— Well-founded  Theories— The  Chris- 
tian Year — The  Test  of  Experience — What  MeanTe? — 
True  Cliurchmanship^Missionary  Preaching — Remember 
the  Poor — Compel  them  to  Come  in — Love,  not  Law — 
Health  by  Exercise— Home,  Sweet  Home 177-202 

LECTURE  IX. 

The  Preaching  Required  by  the  Times — Changes  Superficial 
— Satan  Invents  Little — Self-love  Magnifies — Study  Both 
Sides — The  Golden  Age  Coming — Suddenly  Rich — Friends 
by  Mammon — Uses  of  Money — Abuses  of  Money — A  Just 
Balance — Wise  Men  and  Magicians— Appropriate  Evi- 
dence— Philosophers  Puzzled— Just  Authority — Better 
Signs — Nothing  to  Fear — Infidelity  Overrated — Christians 
Assured — More  Humanity — Revived  Church-life — Stand- 
ing Together — The  One  Family — Cui  Bono  ? — Christians 
at  Work— First  Self,  then  Service— Faithful  in  All. .  203-229 


6  CONTENTS. 

LECTURE  X. 

Popular  Fallacies — Gifts  not  Witlidrawn — Our  Sources  of 
Power — Ministers  of  Christ — Else,  why  Ordain  ? — Fra- 
ternal Feeling — Trained  Mind — Special  Preparation — 
Weight  of  Character — Patient  Continuance — Blessings  by 
the  Way — The  Word  is  Powerful — The  Word  Incarnate 
— The  Word  Written — Believe  and  Obey — Paul  and 
James — The  Medicine  is  Good — Fitness  in  the  Word— One 
Way  for  All — Use  it  Earnestly — Divine  Sanctions — Divine 
Grace — Beseeching  Men — Delay  is  Dangerous — I  Believe 
in  the  Holy  Ghost — Conditions  of  His  Aid — The  Power  of 
Christ 330-257 

APPENDIX. 

Preach  Clirist — Free  Seats  System — Whither  to  Go — About 
the  Singing — The  Doctors — Patients'  Rights — Controver- 
sial Sermons — Women  in  Church — How  Much  Study — To 

*  get  the  People  Out — Clerical  Manners — Read  Selections — 
Words  Recalled — Seeing  Ladies — Doubtful  Persons. .  259-274 


LECTURE  I. 


In  entering  on  this  course  of  lectures,  Gentlemen, 
I  feel  bound  to  declare  to  you  that  my  own  judg- 
ment has  been  overruled,  and  that  no  one  can  have 
so  strong  a  conviction  of  my  inadequacy  to  this  task 
at  the  close,  as  I  have  at  the  commencement.  JSTor 
did  I  labor  to  persuade  myself  of  my  unfitness  in 
order  to  evade  some  labor,  and,  least  of  all,  in  order  to 
escape  an  undesirable  association.  On  the  contrary,  I 
was  much  touched  by  the  practical  catholicity  of  the 
Faculty  of  this  Seminary  in  seeking  out  a  comparative 
stranger,  and  one  outside  of  that  honored  band  whose 
education,  intelligence,  courage,  and  Christian  worth, 
Jiave  made  Kew  England  what  it  is,  and  stamped  a 
New  England  impress  on  so  much  of  America.  But 
no  eagerness  to  respond  to  this  attractive  overture 
blinded  me  to  the  truth,  that  all  I  know  on  this  mat- 
ter of  preaching  could  be  put  into  one  lecture.  Cer- 
tain brethren,  however,  to  whose  views  I  could  not 


8  OBJECTS  OF  LECTURES. 

but  attach  weight,  assured  me  that  the  general  subject 
of  pulpit  ministrations  fairlj  came  within  the  scope  of 
the  foundation,  and  that  I  was  not  expected  to  revolve 
in  the  same  orbit,  nor  to  shine  with  the  same  bril- 
liancy as  my  predecessor  ;  that,  in  fact — though  they 
did  not  so  phrase  it — one  like  myself,  a  long  way  on 
this  side  of  the  extraordinary,  might  be  an  encour- 
aging teacher  and  example  to  ordinary  men,  and,  in  de- 
tailing how  commonplace  qualities  could  be  turned,  by 
God's  blessing  on  ordinary  industry,  to  fair  account, 
might  guide,  stimulate,  and  help  students  in  theol- 
ogy. This  last  consideration,  I  confess,  had  the  most 
weight  with  me.  No  talent  is  too  great,  no  genius  is 
too  brilliant,  no  attainments  are  too  rich,  for  the  work 
of  preaching ;  but,  thank  God,  average  capacity  can 
be  trained  into  such  an  instrument  as  God  the  Holy 
Ghost  will  employ  for  the  "  work  of  the  ministry,  for 
the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ."  * 

Preaching  is  not  to  be  regarded  and  studied  by 
itself,  but  in  its  relation  to  the  whole  work  of  the 
ministry.  Nor  is  the  ministry  to  be  judged  of  as  a 
detached  piece  of  machinery,  but  in  its  place  in  the 
Church  ;  and,  once  more,  our  notions  of  the  ministry 

*Epli.  iv.  12. 


IDEA  OF  THE  CHURCE.  9 

and  of  preaching  will  be  much  modified  by  our  con- 
ception of  the  Church's  history,  nature,  objects,  and 
powers.  To  oSer  a  concise  statement  of  these  will 
occupy  this  opening  hour,  and  it  is  hoped  usefully 
introduce  what  is  to  be  further  presented. 

The  Church  of  God — in  whose  muiistry,  Gentle- 
men, you  hope  to  serve — may  be  regarded  iu  one 
of  two  aspects,  when  we  speak  of  its  history.  We 
may  think  of  it  as  one  continuous  body  from  the 
first  family  down  to  our  own  time,  and  to  the  end  of 
the  world,  the  same  in  substance  throughout,  though 
under  diverse  forms  and  dispensations.  In  this  sense 
the  Christian  Church  is  not  a  new  thing,  but  a  devel- 
opment of  what  went  before,  the  growth  of  a  tree 
planted  in  Paradise.  Israel  was  at  one  time  "  the 
Church  in  the  Wilderness."  *  If  we  wished  to  fur- 
nish a  history  of  the  American  nation,  we  might 
properly  begin,  like  Bancroft,  with  Colonization,  and 
different  forms  of  administration  and  possession, 
entire  or  partial,  by  Dutch,  French,  English,  until 
there  came  to  be  an  independent  people — yokes  of 
bondage  and  elements  of  restriction  being  thrown  off — 
and  the  community  entered  on  an  era  of  equal  rela- 

*Acts  vil.  38. 


10  WHEN  THE  CHURCH  ^EGAN. 

tions  with  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  free  to  all,  free 
from  all. 

In  this  wide  and  comprehensive  sense,  the  Church 
is  the  body  of  Christ.  *  For  this  Church  which  He 
loved,  He  gave  Himself,  t  Much  aid  may  be  gained, 
then,  in  our  inquiry,  from  knowing  what  manner  of 
ministry  God  gave  His  Church,  even  in  the  earliest 
dispensations.     The  Church  is  one. 

Or,  we  may  speak  of  the  Church  as  beginning  with 
the  appearance,  or  the  ascension,  or  tlie  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  or  some  other  part  of  the  work  of  our  blessed 
Lord,  after  which  it  took  the  Christian  name,  and  as-' 
sumed,  in  the  progress  of  events,  new  and  appropriate 
form.  So  a  historian  of  the  United  States  might 
choose  to  commence  his  work  with  the  Revolutionary 
War,  or  the  proclamation  of  Independence.  On  this 
plan  the  writer  would  find  himself  obliged  to  make  very 
full  references  to  previous  forces  and  conditions  that 
formed  the  new  national  life  ;  and  precisely  so,  when 
we  deal  with  the  Christian  Church  as  such,  we  can- 
not ignore,  but  are  forced  to  dwell  upon  the  character 
and  influence  of  former  dispensations  as  giving  lan- 
guage and  form  to  the  Church  of  the  Christian  era. 

*  Col.  i.  18.  t  Epli.  V.  35. 


NATURE  OF  CHUBCE- CLAIM.  H 

Unless,  indeed,  we  are  concerned  in  controversies 
regarding  the  future,  and  anxious  to  find  a  basis  for 
special  interpretations,  the  date  from  which  we 
reckon  the  historj'  of  the  Church  is  of  little  practical 
importance.  * 

But  this  Church,  in  either  aspect  of  it,  is  a  divine 
institution.  It  is  voluntary,  indeed,  as  a  society,  in  so 
far  as  that  men  are  not  forced  into  it  by  human  com- 
pulsion. It  is  not  voluntary,  however,  in  the  sense  in 
which  a  club  or  a  benevolent  association  is  voluntary, 
I  have  not  a  right,  as  towards  God,  to  remain  out  of 
His  Church.  He  has  thought  at  once  of  my  intei- 
ests,  and  of  His  glory  when  giving  the  Sabbath,  the 


*  We  refer  to  the  discussion  regarding  the  "  kingdom,  "  of 
which  Premillennialists  hold  that  Christ  has  not  received  it,  or,  if 
He  has,  it  is  only  the  kingdom  of  Providence  (Dr.  McNeile  on 
the  Second  Advent),  and  will  not  receive  it  until  His  second  com- 
ing. Against  which  it  is  argued,  we  think  conclusively,  that 
our  Lord  Jesus  had  a  kingdom  of  grace  from  the  beginning  of 
human  history,  on  the  ground  of  what  He  should  afterwards 
suffer  as  mediator ;  and  that  on  His  ascension  He  was  formally 
(if  we  may  apply  such  a  word  in  this  connection)  installed,  the 
work  being  now  palpably  done.  Hence  such  language  as  that  of 
John  vii.  39.  The  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  the  evidence  to 
men  of  Christ's  kingdom  being  rightfully  set  up.  He  was  "  glo- 
rified. " 


12  THE  OHUBCH-8  NAME. 

ministry,  the  Churcli,  and  the  Scriptures,  and  I  have, 
no  more  right,  as  regards  Him,  to  disregard  His 
Chm-ch  than  to  disregard  the  Ten  Commandments. 
In  just  and  violent  reaction  against  that  condition  of 
things  when  the  Church  ruled  as  a  great  corporation, 
men's  minds  are  in  danger  of  forgetting  this  truth, 
and  treating  a  divine,  spiritual  agency,  of  which  the 
use  is  made  imperative,  as  if  it  were  a  mutual-im- 
provement society,  to  be  entered  or  not,  as  one  feels 
inclined. 

The  name  of  the  Church  in  her  present  form  is, 
and  ever  will  be,  Christian,  not  indeed  by  any  formal 
enacting  clause,  bnt  by  natural  causes  overruled  by 
the  Lord.  '"'And  the  disciples  were  called  Christians 
first  in  Autioch, "  Some  over-fastidious  persons 
object  to  any  names  but  what  they  find  in  Scripture  ; 
but  they  are  not  agreed  as  to  one  inclusive  name. 
Some  call  themselves  "  disciples,  "  some  "  Chris- 
tians "  (and  some  of  them  make  the  first  syllable  long 
for  a  distinct  purpose),  some  "  brethren  "  with  prefixes 
of  various  kinds.  They  usually  reflect  on  others  for 
being  called  Baptists,  Cougregationalists,  Presbyteri- 
ans, or  the  like.  They  forget  that  these  names  are 
not  in  antithesis  to  Christian,  but,  seeing  that  there 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  NAME.  13 

are  ]-)ecuHarities  of  administration,  these  names  define 
and  describe  those  who,  being  Christians,  adopt  tliem. 
The  holders  of  these  names  are  not  always  responsible 
for  them^  in  many  instances,  as  with  "  the  people 
called  Methodists,"  and  the  Quakers,  they  were 
given  by  unfriendly  tongues.  To  object  to  the 
names  is  no  more  wise  or  candid  tlian  to  quarrel  with 
the  naming  of  the  streets,  or  the  numbering  of  your 
houses.  A  man  does  not  deny  the  unity  of  the  race, 
who  describes  himself  as  an  American,  a  German,  or 
an  Englishman.  Re  would  be  thought  crazy,  if  he 
refused  to  be  known  otherwise  than  as  a  human  being, 
or  an  Adamite.  So  we  can  speak  of  Oongregation- 
alists  and  others  without  impugning  the  oneness  of 
the  Church  of  Jesus  Clirist. 

JN^or  is  this  sufficiently  obvious  fact  without  bearing 
on  our  themes.  Christian  is  the  substantive  :  Episco- 
palian, or  Methodist,  or  Moravian  is  the  adjective. 
And  this  ought  to  be  true  of  the  ministry  and  the 
sermons.  Their  first,  most  obvious  and  pronounced 
quality  ought  to  be  that  they  are  Ciiristian.  There 
are  times,  and  there  is  a  place,  for  sectional  truth ;  but 
the  staple  of  our  ministry  is  to  be  Christian. 

The  Christian  Church  has  officers.     There  were  at 


14  WHO  SHALL  TEACH. 

the  beginning  apostles.  They  appointed  elders,  ruling 
and  teaching,  who  took  the  work  from  apostolic 
hands,  and  continued  it  according  to  instructions.  So 
thej  carry  it  on  to-day.  They  are  successors  of  the  apos- 
tles in  so  far  as  this  that  thej  do  the  same  work  and 
under  the  same  authority,  just  as  every  patriotic 
American  citizen  upholding  the  fundamental  institu- 
tions of  this  "country  is  in  succession  to  the  signers  of 
Independence.  The  "  tactual  succession  "  is  an  idol 
"graven  by  art  and  man's  device,,"  and  has  no  place' 
in  the  temple  of  God. 

The  great  business  of  the  apostles  was  to  teach. 
Miracles  attracted  notice,  attested  the  teachers  as  from 
God,  and,  having  fulfilled  their  necessary  uses,  were 
withdrawn  when  the  new  dispensation  had  acquired 
its  hold  ;  as  the  wooden  framework  is  withdrawn  from 
beneath  the  arch  when  the  mortar  has  set,  as  the 
wrappings  are  taken  from  the  ingrafted  branch 
where  a  vital  union  has  taken  place.  Their  great 
business  they  were  to  "  commit  to  faithful  men,  "  * 
able  to  teach  others  also. 

The  Christian  Church  has  outward  rites  and  sacra- 
ments of  divine  appointment.      Two  have  a  place  of 

*  3  Tim.  ii.  2. 


CnUBCE— RITES.  15 

permanent  value  and  authority — baptism  and  the 
Lord's  supper.  One  symbolizes  union,  the  other  com- 
munion with  God  in  Christ.  In  the  one  we  are 
shown  as  ingrafted  into  Christ ;  in  the  other,  as  grow- 
ing up  into  Him.  Both  are  means  of  grace,  and 
while  no  wise  and  intelligent  Christian  will  disregard 
them,  neither  will  he  confound  them  with  the  source 
of  grace,  nor  the  agent  by  whom  souls  are  renewed 
and  sanctified.  Probably  in  the-  violent  Reaction 
against  the  excessive  sacramentalism  of  mediaeval 
times,  some  Protestant  churches  have  been  inclined 
to  undervalue  these  means.  As  they  are  adapted  to 
our  complex  nature  of  body  and  spirit,*  it  is  easy  to 
err  regarding  them,  either  by  excessive  spiritualizing 
or  excessive  rationalizing.     So,  also,  we  may  clothe 

*  It  is  remarkable  tliat  the  hardest  problems  in  psychology,  and 
the  most  curious  phenomena  of  life — on  which  a  mischievous 
"spiritualism"  has  for  thousands  of  years  built  itself— should 
have  their  place  in  that  very  union  of  the  material  and  the  spir- 
itual to  which  the  sacraments,  with  their  complex  character,  have 
been  adapted.  One  need  not  wonder  that  the  same  perverted 
ingenuity  that  made  necromancers,  conjurors,  and  every  variety 
of  oracle  in  heathendom,  and  found  for  them  some  plausible 
foundation  in  the  facts  of  human  nature,  should  have  turned  the 
sacraments  into  the  coarsest  kind  of  fetish,  as  has  been  done  in 
Roman  Catholic  countries. 


16  MINISTERS  DISPENSE  ORDINANGES. 

tliem  with  an  awful  and  mysterious  grandeur  that 
repels  the  average  Christian,  as  is  done  with  the  com- 
munion of  the  supper  in  the  North  of  Scotland  ;  or, 
worse  still,  we  may  degrade  and  vulgarize  them,  as 
was  done  when  receiving  the  communion  was  made — 
as  in  Great  Britain — a  qualification  for  public  office. 

That  ministers  are  charged  with  the  administration 
of  the  sacraments  does  not  rest  on  any  supposed 
superiority  in  holiness,  or  even  in  knowledge.  They 
are  however,  representative  men  in  the  nature  of 
things,  accepted  by  their  brethren  as  teachers,  consti- 
tuted officers,  and  so  far  standing  to  the  Christian 
society  somewhat  as  the  chairman,  or  the  secretary, 
of  a  secular  community  stands  to  it ;  so  that  what 
the  community  in  either  case  does,  it  does  by  him. 
Ministers  are  the  organs,  of  the  Christian  society,  and 
the  sacraments,  having  among  other  uses,  this,  that 
through  them  the  adhesion  of  members  is  formally 
made  and  maintained,  the  official  persons  are  charged 
with  that  which  binds  and  represents  the  society.  It 
is  needless  to  add  that  all  this  is  on  the  human  side  of 
the  matter,  the  moral  and  spiritual  efficacy  of  the 
sacraments  depending  not  on  "anything  in  them  or  in 
him  that  administers  them,  but  on  the  blessing  of 


THE  IDEA  OF  TRE  MINISTRY.  17 

Christ  and  the  working  of  His  spirit  in  them  that 
by  faith  receive  them."  * 

These  considerations  regarding  the  nature  of  the 
Church,  her  otiicers,  and  sacraments,  must  determine 
in  a  good  degree  our  views  regarding  the  place  and 
work  of  the  ministry ;  and  if  they  do,  our  labor  is 
not  lost  in  their  statement. 

To  that  part  of  our  theme  we  now  turn. 

Our  translators  made  no  discrimination  in  the  two 
Greek  terms  of  the  apostoiic  commission,  for  which 
they  have  given  the  one  word  "teach.f  "  But  there  is 
a  real  distinction.  In  v.  19,  we  have  the  Greek  word 
f.ia^r]revffarrf^  make  discvples.  When  men  believed 
and  became  disciples,  the  ordinance  of  baptism  into 
the  name  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  gave 
opportunity  to  join  the  Christian  society,  and  avow 
discipleship,  and  now  they  became  pupils  to  be  taught, 
and  another  word  altogether  is  employed,  diSaffKovrs?, 
teaching. 

Here  was  a  double  work  for  the  Church's  officers, 

evangelizing   and  instructing  the  evangelized,  or,  in 

other  words,  the  work  of  a  missionary  till  men  came 

under  the  sway  of  Christ,  the  work  of  a  pastor  after- 

*  Shorter  Catechism.  f  Matt.  28.  19. 


18  TEE  COMMISSION. 

wards.  Considering  the  variety  of  age,  intelligence, 
and  moral  characteristics  by  which  any  of  us  must 
needs  be  surrounded,  if  we  are  to  be  good  ministers 
of  Jesus  Christ  we  must  be  prepared  for  both  these 
departments  of  apostolic  work.  While  stationary,  we 
must  also  be  missionary.  A  man  who  only  means  to 
build  up  those  who  choose  to  come  to  him  will  usually 
have  a  contracting  sphere  of  labor ;  ■  while  a  man 
who  neglects  to  feed  the  flock  of  God,  in  his  eager- 
ness to  gather  into  the  fold,  will  fail  of  one  great 
function  of  the  ministry,  the  perfecting  of  the 
saints.*  The  Lord  makes  us  Ttoijuevas  nai  didaaua- 
Xov?^  pastors  and  teachers.\ 

When  we  inquire  what  shall  be  taught,  the  Lord's 
words  are  sufliciently  explicit.  "  Whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you.  "    This  does  not  exclude  subsequent 

*  It  lias  been  proposed  to  read  this  well-known  sentence  (Eph. 
iv,  12)  "  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints  for  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry, "  as  if  work  were  the  purpose  of  their  being  perfected. 
This  is,  in  fact,  true  in  part.  Saints  do  not  go  to  heaven  at  their 
conversion,  for  this,  among  other  reasons,  that  there  is  work  for 
them  to  do.  But  while  this  reading  would  well  suit  the  temper 
of  an  age  when  Christian  activity  has  a  fair  share  of  attention, 
as  compared  with  spirituality,  it  is  not  sustained  by  the  construc- 
tion.    See  Ellicott  in  loc. 

t  Eph.  4.  11. 


NOT  PLENIPOTENTIARIES.  19 

direction  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  it  takes  away 
discretionary  power  from  us,  and  shuts  us  up  to  our 
instructions.  "We  are  not  plenipotentiaries,  but 
"  ambassadors "  with  defined  and  limited  powers. 
We  are  not  principals,  but  messengers,  deputies,  speak- 
ing with  authority  not  inherent,  but  derived.  Like 
the  prophets  who  preceded  Christ,  we  who  come  after 
Him  must,  instead  of  His  divine  and  authoritative 
"  Yerily,  verily  I  say  unto  you  "  (egotism  inexplica- 
ble in  one  of  such  meekness,  unless  he  meant  to 
claim  more  than  created  dignity),  ever  say,  "Thus 
saith  the  Lord.  "  Looking  around  on  a  flock  com- 
mitted to  us,  we  find  some  disciples  by  birth,  and 
some  disciples  by  belief,  more  or  less  strong  and  intel- 
ligent. What  shall  we  teach  them  ?  All  things  what- 
soever Christ  commanded  in  person,  or  by  His  illu- 
mining Spiiit ;  of  whose  teaching  we  have  the  record, 
we  are  bound  to  believe,  in  the  later  books  of  the  New 
Testament. 

This  direction  of  our  Lord  rules  out  many  themes 
that  have  found  their  way  into  the  Christian  pulpit. 
Science,  for  example,  except  as  it  may  illustrate  Scrip- 
ture truth,  is  excluded.  It  is  one  thing  to  employ  it 
as  Chalmers  did  in  his  Astronomical  Discourses  /  it  is 


20  NOR  SCIENTIFIC  PREACHERS. 

another  to  make  tlie  pulpit  a  scientific  rostrum.  This 
is  no  reflection  on  science,  which  has  her  own  themes, 
pulpits,  teachers,  and  appliances,  and  a  noble  ministry 
for  man,  and  which  always  will  be  respectable  and 
useful  on  her  own  ground,  only  making  enemies  among 
intelligent  Christian  men  when  she^abandons  it.  * 

This  same  idea  may  be  presented  in  another  form. 
A  preacher  is  all  the  stronger  for  understanding  the 
Greek  grammar,  and  an  occasional  reference  to  it, 
when  the  elucidation  of  a  passage  calls  for  it,  is  natu- 
ral and  proper;  but  this  is  a  very  different  thing  from 
undertaking  to  teach  Greek  grammar  in  the  pulpit. 
How  good  use  a  religious  teacher  may  make  of  the 

■  *In  our  own  time  an  apparently  serious  breach  appears 
between  science  and  religion.  We  say  appears  ;  for  it  will  be 
found  that  scientific  men  have  given  ofEense  to  religious,  not  as 
"  scientists,  "  but  as  philosophers.  No  man  quarrels  with  the 
experiments,  the  observations,  and  the  interrogations  of  nature 
pursued  by  "  scientists.  "  Their  pursuits,  aptitudes,  or  travels 
have  given  them  special  facilities.  It  is  when  they  philosophize 
on  the  results  they  suppose  they  have  reached,  and  assume  that 
they  have  all  the  facts  in  their  hand,  that  their  special  faculty 
is  denied  and  the  divergence  from  Christians  has  commonly 
begun.  And  when  one  talks  of  a  conflict  between  science  and 
religion,  it  is  of  the  first  consequence  that  he  define  his  terms. 
What  is  "  religion  ?  "  How  much  does  "  science  "  include  ?  Did 
the  magicians  represent  it  in  Moses'  day  ? 


0 UBSSJEJS  AT  TE UTE.  21 

■  facts  of  tlie  woi'ld  will  be  obvious  to  any  one  who 
has  read  such  a  charming  book  as  Bible  Teachings  in 
Nature;  *  but  discussions  on  natural  history  would 
not  be  to  edification  in  the  pulpit.  A  preacher  of 
the  gospel  may  range  over  all  pastures  ;  he  may,  like 
the  bee,  levy  his  tax  on  all  that  is  sweet  and  attractive 
around  him ;  but  it  is  that  the  Church,  which  it  is  his 
business  to  feed,  may  have  made  good  the  promise  of 
Isaiah  concerning  the  holy  child — "  Butter  and  honey 
shall  he  eat,  that  he  may  know  to  refuse  the  evil 
and  choose  the  good.  "  f 

The  same  limit  excludes  from  the  pulpit  nearly  all 
that  comes  under  the  general  term  of.  speculation. 
To  guess  ;  to  "  think  out "  ingenious  surmises ;  to  be 
undetermined  and  indeterminate;  this  is  sometimes 
supposed  to  be  the  sign  of  great  mental  activity,  and 
even  force.  Such  a  man  is  not  "  in  ruts ;  "  he  is  out 
of  the  beaten  track,  truly  ;  he  is  "  suggestive.  "  But 
of  what  ?  A  preacher  of  the  gospel  is  not  a  builder, 
beginning  at  the  ground  and  constructing  a  theology, 
or  a  theory  of  the  universe.  He  is  an  embassador 
with  instructions,  a  messenger  with  a  message.     Let 

*By  the  Rev.  Hugli  McMillan,  Glasgow.    McMillan  &  Co. 
■j-  Isa.  vii.  15. 


22  AUTHORITY  IN  TEACHING. 

him  deliver  his  message.  He  has  no  business  to  say : 
"  I  have  been  thinking  of  this  theme.  I  have  reached 
such  and  such  results  with  my  present  light.  I  give 
you  my  conclusions  so  far  as  I  have  gone  ;  they  may 
be  different  next  week  or  month,  as  I  get  further 
light,  and  then — for  I  am  perfectly  honest — I  shall 
report  tliem  to  you  with  reasons. "  That  is  not,  I 
humbly  think,  the  tone  for  Christian  preaching.  It 
was  proper  enough  in  the  Academic  groves  where 
Plato,  Zeno,  and  Socrates  gave  tlieir  best  thoughts  to 
their  disciples.  But  we  are  not,  Gentlemen,  heathen 
philosophers  finding  out  things;  we  are  expositors  of 
a  revelation  that  settles  things.  Our  authority  in 
speaking,  like  our  right  to  speak,  is  founded  on  the 
word  of  the  Lord.  And  it  would,  surely,  be  a  little 
unreasonable  to  expect  our  fellow-men,  as  intelligent 
as  ourselves,  to  repose  with  confidence  on  conceptions 
that  are  in  obvious  perpetual  flux !  That  were  to 
build  on  a  moving  bog;  to  anchor  to  a  log,  itself 
drifting ;  to  set  up  landmarks  of  snow.  They  might 
well  enough  say  to  us,  "  Gentlemen,  get  something 
settled,  and  then  come  and  tell  it.  "  We  need  not 
wonder  if  men  cease  to  go  to  church  on  such  condi- 
tions.    We  need  not  affect  surprise  at  religious  indif- 


NOT  DAY-DREAMING.  23 

ference,  or  the  growth  of  all  manner  of  abnormal 
mushroom  crudities,  springing  up  in  the  night  which 
such  speculation  in  the  pulpit  makes,  and  which 
must  be  treated  with  caution,  since  it  is  difficult  to 
distinguish  •  the  edible  from  the  poisonous  fungus. 
Life  is  too  brief ;  men's  souls  are  too  valuable ;  too 
little  time  can  be  had  for  spiritual  affairs  to  waste  any 
of  it  on  such  day-dreaming.*  When  Jesus  said,  "  I 
am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life ;  no  man  cometh 
unto  the  Father  but  by  me,  "  He  spoke  positive 
truth,  which  it  is  our  business  to  echo.  He  indicates 
a  road  to  the  Father,  on  which  no  human  engineer- 
ing can  make  improvements.  We  are  to  set  men's 
feet  so  far  as  we  can  on  that  road.  Let  authors,  mas:- 
azine  writers,  poets,  and  philosophers  wander  at  their 
own  sweet  will  gathering  flowers  and  enjoying  views 
over  the  prairie  of  unbounded  imagination.  We,  my 
brethren,  give  ourselves  to  another  task ;  we  are  to 
direct  human  pilgrims,  according  to  settled  and  fixed 
commandments  from  the  Lord,  into  the  way  that 
leads  through  the  gate  into  the  city. 

One  common  result  of  the  style  of  speculation  in 
the  pulpit  now  ci-iticised  is  the  recoil  of  the  human 
mind  into  a  credulous  submission  to    authority,  or 


24  RISK  OF  REACTION. 

wliat  claims  to  be  antliority,  I  shall  be  very  much 
sm-prised  if  there  be  not,  in  those  portions  of  this 
country  where  positive  teaching  is  lacking,  a  growth 
of  those  forms  of  the  Christian  faith,  more  or  less  un- 
Protestant,  whose  teachers  claim  to  speak  with 
authority  not  founded  on  an  appeal  to  the  command- 
ments of  Christ,  but  on  a  great  indefinite  corporation 
behind  them  arrogantl_^  labeled  the  "Infallible 
Church."* 


*  It  will  be  alleged,  perhaps,  that  this  Church-teaching  is  only 
another  form  of  the  authority  we  urge  and  which  free  thought 
repudiates.  This  is  true  in  so  far  as  all  successful  error  has  an 
infusion  of  truth  in  it.  Romanism  in  its  various  forms  is  a  skill- 
ful travesty  of  truth.  But  it  substitutes  the  authority  of  a  body 
of  men — ^however  ancient  that  body— for  that  of  God.  The 
authority  of  God's  word  is  of  another  kind  ;  and  the  appeal  to  it 
leaves  the  human  mind  free  as  to  man,  for  it  is  in  the  hands  of 
those  who  hear  our  appeal,  and  who  can  judge  of  our  accuracy. 
The  difference  may  be  made  apparent  by  an  analogy.  Imagine 
a  lawyer  telling  a  jury:  "  Gentlemen,  my  case  is  sustained  by 
the  universal  body  of  jurists  from  the  beginning:  if  the  other 
side  quotes  cases  to  the  contrary,  they  are  not  recognized  by  us 
as  from  the  body  of  j  urists.  No  one  is  in  that  venerable  body 
but  those  who  agree  with  us."  His  opponent  says:  "Gentle- 
men, my  case  is  sustained  by  the  statutes — here  is  the  book.  I 
shall  read  it  to  you.  I  shall  hand  you  up  the  book,  that  you 
may  examine  it  yourselves."  This  is  the  Protestant,  Evangeli- 
cal ground. 


CHURCH  A  UTHORITT.  25 

While  it  is  said  in  Scripture  "  hear  the  church  "* 
on  the  small  and  practical  details  of  the  differences 
among  the  Church's  children,  these  perverters  of  the 
right  ways  of  the  Lord  apply  the  words  to  all  the 
principles  that  constitute  the  Christian  faith.  Their 
Bible  is  only  a  private  document  of  the  Cliurch.  Our 
Bible  is  the  Church's  charter,  book  of  laws,  direc- 
tory and  court  of  appeal.  Their  standard  of  time  is 
a  very  old  and  oft-repaired  Italian  watch ;  ours  is  the 
unwearied  sun.f 

The  same  limit  shuts  out  what  may  be  called  Ritual- 
istic preaching.  From  long  habit  and  church-usage, 
a  usage-  which  once  prevailed  over  this  country,  I 
wear  in  the  pulpit  the  gown  and  bands  which  are 
known  as  Genevan,  and  were  once  worn  by  scholars 

*  Matt,  xviii.  17  :  and  that  Cliurch,  by  the  way,  in  the  nature 
of  things,  must  have  been  in  the  first  instance  the  congregation. 

f  It  is  of  no  use  to  say  that  if  the  Book  is  thus  made  every- 
thing, there  is  neither  use  nor  place  for  a  ministry.  The  an- 
swer is  twofold,  {a)  The  book  calls  for  a  ministry.  He  who 
gave  it,  and  makes  for  it  so  extensive  claims,  does  not  regard  it 
as  superseding  the  ministry.  He  knows  man's  wants.  And  {b) 
practically  the  book  no  more  sets  aside  the  ministry  than  the 
admirable  school-books  of  America  set  aside  the  great  army  of 
school-teachers  who  employ  them.  Men  can  do  little  more  than 
copy  God's  methods.  . 
2 


26  RITUALISM. 

as  distinguished  from  others.  They  are  convenient 
to  me,  and  to  all  awkward  and  ungainly  men,  and  as 
a  pulpit  uniform  they  save  tlie  people  from  the 
temptation  to  criticise  our  outer,  when  they  should 
be  improving  their  own  inner,  man.  But  I  should 
not  feel  at  liberty  to  preach  about  them,  or  to  find 
occult  symbolical  meanings  in  them.  What  was  proper 
enough  when  the  Jews  had  a  series  of  object-lessons 
and  not  a  Bible,  is  a  retrograde  movement,  a  return 
to  "  weak  and  beggarly  elements  "  in  the  Christian 
dispensation.  This  would  hold,  even  if  the  symboli- 
cal teaching  of  the  Ritualists  were  true  in  itself;  but 
too  often  it  is  not.  On  the  same  principle,  all  that  goeS 
by  the  name  of  "  Sacerdotalism "  is  excluded  from 
our  ministerial  teaching.  There  is  a  true  sense  in 
which  a  minister,  in  common  with  all  believers,  is  a 
priest  to  God,*  but  there  is  no  true  sense  in  which  min- 
isters are  a  distinct  priesthood,  and  the  special  appli- 
cation of  the  word  to  them  in  Protestant  literature  is 
singularly  infelicitous.  The  ispiv;  of  heathen  and 
of  Jewish  language  had  a  true  place.  He  M\as  a 
sacrificing  priest.  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  such-  a 
priest.f     But  we  seek  in  vain  for  any  such  designa- 

*  1  Pet.  ii.  9.  t  See  Heb.  v.  6;  vii.  15,  in  Gr.  Test. 


SACERDOTALISM,  21 

tion  in  the  Scripture  for  the  Christian  teacher.  lie 
is  Fpiscopos,  from  his  functions  as  overseer  (Acts  xx. 
28) ;  Presbuteros,  from  age  or  the  qualities  age  is 
supposed  to  bring;  and  Diaconos,  minister,  from  his 
being  a  servant ;  but  never  Siereus*  And  this  is  the 
more  remarkable,  considering  what  a  gain  it  would 
apparently  have  been  to  clothe  the  ministers  of  the 
new  religion  with  the  honor  and  prestige  of  the  estab- 
lished and  recognized  priesthood.  But  when  this 
was  done  it  was  by  a  political  and  corrupt  corpora- 
tion, and  not  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

"While  the  positive  rule  that  deternjines  our  themes 
is  "  all  that  I  have  commanded  you,"  it  is  not  to  be 
understood  that  all  the  parts  of  the  body  of  revelation 
are  equally  important.  They  have  not  all  the  same 
place.  But  they  have  all  some  place,  and  are  essen- 
tial in  that  place.  "  Thumbs  and  great  toes  "  are  not 
the  body,  but  they  are  essential  to  archery  and  run- 
ning ;  and  Adoni-bezek's  captives  were  no  longer  fit 
for  war  when  they  had  lost  them.     A  book  on  the 

*  "  Tlie  Priests,"  says  Arclibisliop  Whately,  "  both  of  the 
Jews  and  the  Pagan  nations,  constantly  bear,  in  the  sacred 
writers,  the  title  of  Uiereus,  which  title  they  never  apply  to  any 
of  the  Christian  ministers  ordained  by  the  apostles."— Origin  of 
Bomish  Errors,  p.  95  (London  edition). 


28  REGARD  TO  THE  TIMES. 

rights  of  American  citizens  will  not  dwell  at  equal 
length  on  all  the  rights,  nor  at  great  length  on  those 
of  a  past  generation  ;  though  it  will  often  be  needful 
to  go  back  over  the  history  of  a  law  or  an  arrange- 
ment, in  order  to  show  its  present  bearing.  This  prin- 
ciple all  lawyers  understand,  and  it  is  not  to  be  ig- 
nored by  the  expositors  of  Scripture.  It  is  so,  also, 
in  medicine.  There  are  cycles  of  disease,  and  new 
developments  of  suffering.  AVe  require  men  to  grap- 
ple with  the  maladies  of  to-day  ;  but  to  do  so  they 
must  study  the  history  of  diseases,  mode  of  develop- 
ment, conditions,  remedies  successfully  exhibited  in 
their  treatment,  that  they  may  be  competent  to  cure. 
It  is  so  no  less  in  the  arduous  labors  of  him  who 
would  labor  for  and  under  the  Great  Physician. 

Once  more,  men's  views  of  truth  are  affected  by 
conditions  of  their  minds,  the  training  they  have  had, 
the  circumstances  around  them,  and  "  the  times  "  in 
which  they  live.  A  wise  and  competent  teacher  will 
present  Christ's  commandments  in  obvious  application 
to  the  wants  of  the  hearers,  so  that  their  fitness  shall 
be  recognized,  and  that  they  shall  have  all  the  gracious 
effect  of  saving  truth  to  them.  For  it  is  one  of  our 
comforts  and  elements  of  strength  that  true  theology 


TRUTH  ADMITS  OF  TEST.  29 

and  true  Christian  life  lit  into  eaeli  other.  The 
Christian  truth  is  not,  as  it  is  sometimes  represented 
to  be,  esssentially  dijfferent  from  all  other  forms  of 
truth  with  which  science  can  deal  in  the  way  of  ex- 
periment ;  nor  does  it  rest  so  exclusively,  as  is  some- 
times alleged,  on  positive  external  authority.  When 
a  man  trembles  at  the  thought  of  God  and  an  invis- 
ible world,  has  he  no  experimental  evidence  of  divine 
truth — no  proof  within  himself  tliat  "  it  is  a  fearful 
thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God  ? " 
"When  the  Scripture  declares  that  "  out  of  the  heart 
proceed  evil  thoughts,  murders,  adulteries,"  do  we 
believe  it  only  because  it  is  there  ?  Do  not  we  know 
within  ourselves  that  it  is  true  ?  When  the  Lord 
talked  with  the  woman  of  Samaria,  was  there  nothing 
to  impress  but  the  probable  credibility  of  the  stranger  ? 
Had  she  no  evidence  warranting  her  invitation, 
"  Come,  see  a  man  that  told  me  all  things  that  ever  I 
did  ;  is  not  this  the  Christ  ?  "*  And  the  same  argu- 
ment might  be  applied  to  conviction  of  sin,  hope  of 
pardon,  peace  of  mind,  fellowship  with  God,  struggle 
with  corruption,  and  victory  over  the  world ;  all 
which  come  within  the  range  of  experience.     When 

*  Jolin  iv.  29. 


30  KNOWING  ZZV  OURSELVES. 

Elizabeth  of  Hungary,  after  rougli  treatment  from  an 

old  crone,  who  should  have  been  grateful  ito  her,  tells 

her  story,  she  has  experimental  evidence  of  spiritual 

truth. 

"  Let  be— we  must  not  think  on  't. 
The  scofE  was  true — I  thank  her — I  thank  God — 
This  too  I  needed.     I  had  built  myself 
A  Babel-tower,  whose  top  should  reach  to  heaven. 
Of  poor  men's  praise  and  prayers,  and  subtle  pride 
At  mine  own  alms.     'Tis  crumbled  into  dust ! 
Oh  1  I  have  leant  upon  an  arm  of  flesh — 
And  here's  its  strength  !  I'll  walk  by  faith — by  faith  1 
And  rest  my  weary  heart  on  Christ  alone — 
On  Him,  the  all-sufficient."  * 

We  can  rejoin  to  experimental  philosophers  when 
they  invite  us  to  the  laboratory,  as  we  point  to  human 
fears,  sense  of  guilt,  remorse,  despair,  or,  on  the  other 
and  brighter  side,  to  hope,  peace,  reform,  and  life  of 
holiness,  "  Come  and  see." 

"  Oh,  make  but  trial  of  His  love. 
Experience  will  decide 
How  blest  are  they,  and  only  they, 
Who  in  His  word  confide." 

To  get,  then,  the  mind  of  Christ,  and  to  declare  it, 

*  The  Saints'  Tragedy  (Act  III.  Scene  II.)  by  the  late  Canon 
Kingsley. 


THE  TONGUE  OF  FIRE.  ,         31 

is  tlie  primary  end  of  the  teaching  officers  of  the 
Church.  The  living  body  of  sympathetic  men,  satu- 
rated with  tlie  truth  and  feeling  of  the  hook,  must 
bring  it  iifto  contact  with  other  men,  through  that 
marvelous  organ,  the  human  voice,  and  with  such  aid 
as  comes  from  the  subtle  sympathy  that  pervades 
assemblies  of  human  beings.  And  while  systemati- 
cally teaching  Christ's  truth,  as  they  have  learned  it 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  they  must  never  forget  the  power 
that  moved  them,  nor  fail  to  honor  that  Divine  Per- 
son who  not  only  gives,  but  has  condescended  to  be, 
a  "tongue  of  fire."  This  work  of  speaking  the 
trutli  is  the  justification,  the  "reason  to  be,"  the 
honor,  the  dignity  of  the  Christian  ministry. 


LECTURE   II. 


It  was  stated  in  the  last  lecture  that  the  ministry 
is  not  to  be  regarded  and  studied  by  itself,  but  in  its 
relation  to  the  Church ;  and  so  the  sermon  is  not  to 
be  provided  for  as  a  detached  factor,  but  as  one  of  a 
number  of  co-operating  forces.  The  ball  is  for  the 
cannon ;  and  the  cannon  is  for  the  artillery  ;  and  the 
artillery  is  for  its  appropriate  place  as  a  portion  of 
the  army.  Whatever  may  be  said  hereafter  of  preach- 
ing in  the  Evangelistic  method — where  continuous 
teaching  with  the  view  of  building  up  men  is  not 
contemplated — we  here  and  now  think  of  the  preach- 
ing of  pastors.  We  venture  to  thick  that — whatever 
may  be  done  by  extraordinary  men,  who  attempt 
little  beyond  preaching,  and  who  effect  much  by 
the  influence  so  exercised  over  masses  of  men — to 
the  average  preacher  the  greatest  amount  of  useful- 
ness comes  by  his  being  a  pastor.  It  is  freely 
admitted    that    the   apostles   were    not    continuous 


PASTORS— NOT  EVANGELISTS  33 

laborers  in  limited  spheres;  but  tliej  were  special 
agents  for  special  work,  with  special  gifts.  It  is 
freely  admitted,  also,  that  there  have  been  apostolic 
men  like  Whitfield,  John  Wesley,  and,  in  a  different 
sphere,  Nettleton,  who  accomplished  the  most  noble 
results  by  preaching,  apart  from  pastoral  labor.  But 
fully  conceding  all  this,  we  adhere  to  the  conviction 
that  for  you  and  me — ordinary  men — it  is  the  wisest 
thing  to  labor  concurrently  with  our  preaching  in 
those  other  and  related  ways,  which  come  under  the 
general  head  of  "  pastoral  work,"  over  a  limited  field, 
and  by  persistence,  continuity  of  effort,  and  force  of 
known  character,  to  supply  in  some  degree  the  lack  of 
special  gifts  and  extraordinary  powers.  If  ever  there 
was  any  lack  of  talking  faculty  in  America,  we  have 
the  prospect  of  a  remedy  in  a  revival  of  attention 
thereto.  "  Speakers "  enough  we  shall  probably 
always  have ;  but  we  want  speakers  who  shall  be 
pastors,  and  whose  speaking  shall  be  an  integral 
part  of  an  entire  homogeneous  pastoral  woi'k. 

1  propose  to  show  the  relation  between  preaching 
and  the  other   parts  of   a   minister's  duties ;  and  I 
place  this  topic  here,  because  it  will  contribute  some- 
thing to  our  ideas  as  to   preparation  for  preaching 
0* 


34  MINISTRY  NOT  A  CASTE. 

as  a   life-work,  and   also  as   to  the  making  of   the 
individual  sermon. 

A  congregation  is  composed  of  a  number  of  indi- 
viduals, including  many  groups  of  families,  with 
some  general  features  in  common,  but  with  great 
personal  diversities.  Living  in  the  same  locality, 
and  meeting  frequently,  particularly  in  their  religious 
assemblies,  the  members  exercise  an  amount  of 
influence  on  one  another,  and  any  force  set  in 
motion  among  them  has  a  fair  opportunity  to  be 
propagated.  "What  is  the  minister  to  the  congrega- 
tion ?  It  does  not  matter,  for  our  purpose,  whether 
he  is  a  member  of  it,  or  an  outsider  called  to  its 
help.  We  need  not  here  raise  the  question  whether 
he  is  one  of  a  distinct  order  or  not.  This  much  is 
certain,  he  is  not  of  a  caste  in  any  such  sense  as  if 
the  office  were  hereditary  ;  or  as  if  celibacy,  or  some 
other  important  peculiarity,  marked  him  off  from 
his  fellow-citizens  and  fellow-Christians.  And  while 
a  certain  peculiar  brotherhood  must  needs  bind 
together,  and  ought  to  bind  together,  ministers, 
everything  tending  to  make  them  a  caste  ought  to 
be  deprecated.  For  our  purposes,  it  is  sufficient 
that   the   congregation   invites   a  Christian   man  of 


KNOW  THE  PEOPLE.  35 

approved  gifts  and  character  to  come  and  live 
among  them  at  their  cost,  and  labor  for  their  own 
and  their  children's  spiritual  good.  He  accepts  the 
position  and  the  work,  looking,  indeed,  over  the 
heads  of  the  people,  and  believing  that  through 
them  his  Master  in  heaven  has  beckoned  him  to 
this  post  of  duty. 

ISTow,  to  make  the  most  of  himself,  what,  on  the 
ordinary  principles  of  common  sense,  which  the 
Scriptures  never  contradict,  ought  he  to  do  ? 
Obviously  he  oiight  to  Tcnow  the  people.  A  medical 
man  has  many  advantages  from  knowing  the  con- 
stitution of  an  old  patient;  but  he  may  also  judge 
of  present  and  palpable  symptoms,  and  give  the 
best  advice  to  one  whom  he  never  saw  before.  A 
lawyer  may  form  a  perfectly  sound  opinion  on  a 
case,  of  the  parties  in  which  he  knows  nothing  but 
as  they  are  in  his  brief  or  paper-book.  But  a 
minister's  functions  so  essentially  differ  from  the 
lawyer's  and  the  doctor's,  that  acquaintance  is  desir- 
able, and  spiritual  influences  will  commonly  run  in 
the  channel  of  confidence  and  affection.  How  can 
he  know  them  ?  New- Year  calls  and  visits  Qf 
ceremony  are  good  as  far  as  the^^  go ;  but  they  do 


36  CfO  TO  THEIR  HOMES. 

not  go  far  enough.  Men  are  "  on  their  manners " 
at  such  times.  Weddings  and  social  meetings  are 
a  little  better,  for  there  men  relax ;  but  they  have 
their  drawbacks.  People  do  not  go  to  evening 
parties  to  meet  their  clergyman,  and  be  "  edified." 
They  go  to  enjoy ;  and  the  average  clergyman  is 
rather  afraid  of  the  imputation  of  talking  "  shop," 
and  rather  ambitious  of  being  seen  as  the  generally 
"well-informed  man.  I  do  not  blame  him  for  this  : 
a  clergyman  ought  not  to  be  conspicuously  behind 
an}^  whom  he  meets  as  a  courteous,  intelligent, 
agreeable  gentleman.  He  may  not  have  time  or 
inclination,  to  go  much  into  society ;  but  it  is  as 
well  that  it  should  be  known  that  he  is  a  "  pleasant 
man  to  meet,"  when  he  can  afford  it — neither  a 
recluse,  nor  a  boor,  nor  a  Diogenes  in  his  tub, 
ordering  everybody  "  out  of  his  sunshine." 

To  make  the  acquaintance  of  his  people,  a  clergy- 
man must  go  to  their  homes,  see  the  tUinily  where 
the  family  lives,  and  converse  with  them  in  the 
freedom  of  their  own  homes.  He  may  systematize 
this  work ;  make  it  more  or  less  formal ;  *  prepare 

f  In  some  of  the  Britisli  cliurclies  ministers  visit,  once  a  year, 
along  with  an  elder.     There  may  be  some  advantages  in  this. 


PASTORAL  VISITS.  37 

the  people  beforehand  or  not ;  *  conduct  devotional 
exercises  in  the  family,  uniformly  or  not ;  but  he 
ought  always  to  gain  from  going  to  the  homes  of  the 
people.  The  generalities  he  delivers  from  the  pulpit 
with  easy  confidence  he  should  have  opportunity  to 
try  on  particular  cases  among  his  flock.  Ills  mode 
of  life,  training,  conditions,  habits  of  mind,  differ 
from  theirs  in  many  cases.  He  ought  to  learn,  and 
so  come  to  allow  for,  their   differences.     And  not 

A  wise  deacon  of  spiritual  aud  sympatlietic  character  might  be 
a  great  help  iu  some  instances.  But,  as  a  general  rule,  there 
will  be  more  frankness  with  the  minister  "by  himself."  And 
a  visit  from  the  deacon  bi/  liimself  would  probably,  effect  more 
than  if  made  as  the  attendant  of  the  pastor. 

*  For  many  years  I  pursued,  in  common  with  many  of  my 
British  brethren,  the  habit  of  mentioning  from  the  pulpit  the 
streets  or  localities  in  which  visits  would  be  made  on  particular 
days.  This  secured  the  presence  of  most  of  the  family,  and 
among  plain  people,  a  certain  preparation.  I  see  no  obj  ection  to 
this  plan  anywhere.  I  wish  we  could  have  it,  for  the  sake  of 
thoroughness  and  as  a  check  on  desultory  "  calling."  One  of  the 
best  clergymen  I  ever  knew,  and  one  of  the  noblest  of  men,  the 
late  Dr.  Urwick,  Congregational  minister  iu  Dublin,  had  hia 
congregation  arranged  alphabetically,  and  his  announcements 
ran  thus  :  "  I  hope  to  visit  on  Monday  the  families  from  G.  to 
I."  This  plan  entails  some  loss  of  time,  as  distinguished  from 
the  neighborhood  method,  as  the  "G's"  might  be  widely  scat- 
tered. 


38  LOVE  TEE  PEOPLE. 

least,  he  should  give  himself  a  chance  to  form  that 
"  liking  "  for  his  people  which  is  founded  on  know- 
ing, and  to  make  that  subtle  chain  of  interest  which 
is  only  formed  by  contact.  You  see  a  mother  in  her 
nursery,  holding  her  baby  in  her  arms,  looking  into 
its  pinched,  pale  features  to  find  out,  if  she  can,  if 
the  symptoms  of  life  or  of  death  predominate. 
Your  heart  enters  into  her  anguish.  You  kneel 
down  at  your  chair,  and  ask  God,  who  gave  her  the 
mother's  heart,  to  give  her  grace  and  strength  ;  and 
you  say  what  words  you  can  of  comfort  and  encour- 
agement. Can  you  ever  feel  to  her  again,  as  to  an 
ordinary  member  of  the  human  family  ?  And  if  the 
child  is  spared  and  grows  up,  is  he  not  a  little  more 
to  you  than  another  cliild  ?  A  man  tells  you  some- 
thing of  his  life,  his  struggles,  his  sorrows,  perhaps 
his  sins  ;  his  lip  quivers,  and  his  eyes  overflow  in  the 
recital.  If  you  have  the  first  elements  of  a  minister's 
nature  in  you,  you  must  feel  and  speak  to  that  man 
evermore  with  some  influential  memory  of  the  inter- 
view. Any  ordinary  minister  who  is  to  do  spiritual 
good  to  his  people  must  love  them.  But  ordinary 
men  found  their  affectionate  interest  on  acquaint- 
ance.    It  is  not  love  in  general,  and  in  the  abstract, 


BE  ENO  WN  B  Y  TEE  PEOPLE.  39 

tbat  makes  a  channel  to  the  human  spirit,  but  love  to 
individuals,  into  whose  faces,  and  in  some  degree  into 
whose  hearts,  you  have  looked. 

But  a  minister  must  go  close  up  to  his  people,  that 
they  may  know  him.  They  will  believe  the  more  in 
his  earnest  desire  to  do  them  good,  when  they  find 
him  as  a  minister  at  their  dwellings.  They  will  hear 
him  in  a  new  spirit  when  he  preaches.  It  is  not 
quite  true,  that  all  the  eloquence  is  in  the  audience ; 
but  much  of  it  is  there,  as  truly  as  the  echo  is  in  the 
bosom  of  the  mountain  in  part,  though  in  part  also 
in  the  bugle-blast  that  evoked  it. 

The  strangest  ideas  are  entertained  by  some  re- 
garding ministers — ideas  that  nothing  but  contact 
will  rectify.  It  is  good  for  the  people  to  see  that  he 
is  human,  "  a  man  of  like  passions  "  with  themselves, 
and  as  he  goes  among  them  a  true,  simple,  natural, 
unaffected  gentleman,  walking  on  no  stilts,  free  of 
all  insolence  of  office,  obviously  fighting  the  battle  of 
his  life,  as  they  are  fighting  theirs,  tliey  learn  to 
believe  that  the  sublime  principles,  he  enunciates 
from  the  pul^^it  are  not  for  some  retired,  privileged 
spot  inhabited  by  ministers,  deacons,  and  their 
respective  wives,  but  for  common  men  and  women 


40  CHILDREN  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

who  live,  and  toil,  and  enjoy,  and  suffer,  and  who 
must  die  and  be  judged. 

But  how  does  all  this  bear  upon  preaching  ?  Much 
every  way,  as  we  shall  see  presently. 

But  "  preaching  from  house  to  house,"  of  the  best 
manner  of  doing  which,  it  is  not  needful  to  speak 
here,  is  only  one  of  several  ways  in  which  to  come 
near  the  people.  They  are  capable  of  being 
distributed  into  classes.  There  are  the  very  young, 
who  are  to  be  brought  into,  and  kept  in,  the 
Sabbath-schools.  Whoever  else  works  there,  the 
minister  is  to  be  in  the  van.  It  is  common  to  say 
that  parents  cannot  delegate  their  duties  to  a  Sabbath- 
school  teacher.  N^or  can  ministers.  We  should  be 
in  our  schools,  know  the  teachers,  encourage  them, 
help  them,  give  them,  if  they  need  it,  a  little  salutary 
discouragement,  and  be  known  to,  and  know,  their 
pupils.  If  one  says,  "  I  have '  not  time,"  it  is  answer 
enough  to  rejoin,  "  For  what  are  you  there  ?  Do 
not  you  know  that  these  Sabbath-school  children  are 
your  charge  now,  and  will  be  your  adult  hearers  in 
ten  years  ? " 

Above  the  grade  of  the  children  is  another  class — 
young  men  and  women,  many  of  whom  should  l)e. 


YOUNG  MEN  AND  MAIDEI^S.  41 

but  are  not,  in  the  membership  of  the  Church.  A 
communicants'  class'*  will  reach  them,  and  lead 
many,  through  the  Divine  blessing,  to  Christ,  and  to 
His  table.  A  gentlemen's  Bible  reading,  a  ladies' 
Bible  class,  a  workingmen's  mutual  improvement 
society,  any  suitable  agency  that  brings  minister 
and  people  together  for  a  good  object  will  do  good 
directly  and  indirectly.  One  need  not  hold  to  the 
same  form  of  effort  continuously.  Some  things  will 
get  a  fresh  life  under  a  new  form  or  name.  Only 
let  these  be  conditions  :  that  the  pastor's  eye  is  over 
all,  and  that  as  unobtrusively  as  he  likes,  but  really 
he  be  felt  for  good  in  all ;  and  that  he  come  near  his 
people. 

JS'ow,  how  does  all  this  bear  on  preaching?  In 
three  ways  at  least,  to  be  mentioned  with  but  little 
illustration. 

{a)  The  minister  will  be  aided  in  selecting  from 
the  materials  he  finds  in  the  word.  He  knows  his 
people,  their  condition  and  wants.  He  is  the 
observer  of  constant  development  of  character.     Pie 


*  This  name  is  not  familiar  in  America,  but  the  idea  may  be 
realized  under  another  name. 


42  PULPIT  TOPICS. 

sees  where  the  weak  points  are.  There  are  matters 
of  belief  they  do  not  understand.  He  will  note 
them,  and  at  a  fitting  time  set  them  forth.  There 
are  practical  duties  falling  into  abeyance*  Family 
altars  are  fallen,  or  the  fire  on  them  is  bm-ning 
feebly.  He  will  magnify  this  priesthood  and  sacri- 
fice of  the  home.  The  children  are  getting  too 
much  of  their  own  way,  too  little  o"f  godly  training. 
He  will  spend  a  few  Sabbaths,  perhaps,  on  the 
commandments.  ISTo  one  can  be  hurt  when  the  fifdi 
comes  in  its  place.  There  are  signs  of  loose  morals 
in  the  community.  The  seventh  or  the  tenth  he 
will  not  slur  over ;  in  fact,  it  would  be  very  strange 
if  he  did.  And  every  pastor  will  find  that  a  certain 
life  is  infused  into  sermons  that  have  a  fitness  of 
this  kind.  There  are  certain  lines  of  Bible  truth 
over  which  we  are  carried  in  Seminary.  Some 
of  them,  perhaps,  were  made  deep  and  clear  by  a 
forcible  professor.  Over  some  of  them,  perhaps,  we 
traveled  often  and  painfully,  in  view  of  an  examina- 
tion. They  have  assumed  an  undue  importance  in 
our  thoughts,  and  we  are  tempted  to  think  that 
they  must  be  of  great  interest  to  the  rest  of 
the  human  race.     Yet,  in  point  of    fact,  that    por- 


P  ZTLPIT  ILL  US  TEA  TIONS.  43 

tion  of  it  for  whicli  we  are  responsible  has  no  doubt 
about  them,  will  not  comprehend  our  argumen- 
tation, and  feels  no  connection  between  it  and  daily 
life. 

Not  only  will  a  man  get  the  most  valuable  as- 
sistance where  every  ininister  has  spent  some, 
and  many  a  great  deal  of,  time — the  selection, 
of  themes — but  he  will  often  get  his  best  points 
and  illustrations  in  intercourse  with  his  people. 
Going  among  them,  with  ears  open,  eyes  observant, 
and  heart  warm,  he  will  see  modes  of  life,  hear 
forms  of  expression,  witness  human  experiences,  all 
new  to  him,  familiar  to  them,  the  reproduction  of 
which  will  bring  him  and  his  message  near  to  them, 
and  into  their  real  life.  For  the  sake  of  impression 
he  means  to  describe  a  sick-bed  or  a  death-bed. 
Many  men  go  to  what  they  read,  or  remembered,  in 
books.  Let  him  go  back  to  what  he  saw  among 
them.  He  would  represent  vice  and  sin  ;  and  he 
gives  a  catalogue  of  vices  wliich  they  know  little 
about,  at  least  bv  his  names.  Let  him  call  them  as 
they  do  among  themselves,  and  tell  them  the  truth 
regarding  them,  as  he  does  regarding  Christ,  the 
great  sin-bearer,  "  in  their  own  tongue  wherein  they 


44  ,  A  NECESSAltY  BRIDGE. 

were  born."  His  preaching  will  have  a  new  force 
and  significance  to  them.  It  is  undeniable  that  for 
want  of  tliis  many  otherwise  most  excellent  men  are 
ineffective  all  their  lives.  Their  sermons  are  echoes, 
slightly  modified  in  transmission,  of  the  didactic  or 
polemic  themes  of  college  and  seminary  life,  or  of  the 
literature  in  which  the  subjects  are  kept  under  their 
continued  notice.  Their  wheels  are  in  rapid  and 
regular  motion,  but  they  do  not  hite.  They  hardly 
know  what  is  the  matter.  Neither  do  their  people. 
Now  and  then,  perhaps  some  one  more  shrewd 
than  the  rest  asks:  '•'•  Qui  hono !  All  that  being 
so,  what  is  it  to  me  ?  What,  in  fact,  do  we  care 
about  it  ? " 

(b)  By  this  means  a  thoughtful  and  observant  man. 
is  aided  in  adapting  his  methods  of  preaching  to  his 
people.  Take  an  average  theologian,  of  bookish 
habits  and  scholarly  tastes,  and  an  average  working- 
man,  and  what  a  great  gulf  is  fixed  between  them. 
How  embarrassing  a  long  conversation  would  often 
be  to  both  of  them !  It  ^'ould  be  a  miracle  if,  on 
merely  general  principles,  and  without  knowing  him, 
the  theologian  could  hit  on  the  language  that  would 
be  clear,  and   the   aspects  of  truth    that   would  be 


TAKING  TROUBLE.  45 

suitable  to  him.  The  minister  must  bridge  over 
that  gulf.  Is  it  not  one  of  the  reasons  that  account 
for  the  mass  of  men  that  do  not  go  to  churcli,  that 
thej  have  no  feeling  that  the  talking  will  be  on  the 
plane  of  their  lives?  Is  it  not  the  fact  that  for  a 
long  time  Methodism  made  its  triumphant  and 
blessed  progress  through  the  ministrations  of  com- 
paratively illiterate  men  ?  Is  it  not  the  fact  that  in 
many  instances  the  memory  of  their  success  is  still  so 
strong  as  to  create  some  prejudice  against  a  learned 
ministry?  "What  is  the  remedy  for  those  who  are 
educated,  and  who  cannot  go  back,  if  they  would, 
to  an  illiterate  condition  ?  "Why,  to  go  among 
our  people,  learn  their  ways,  modes  of  thought, 
habits  of  looking  at  things,  and  so  acquire  the 
power  to  speak  to  them,  and  not  over  their  heads. 

Tou  think  this  involves  a  world  of  trouble  !  "Well, 
Gentlemen,  it  is  for  that  we  are  made  ministers.  If 
we  are  not  willing  to  take  trouble  for  souls,  let  us 
leave  our  places  for  braver  men,  and  go  into  politics, 
or  law,  or  trade,  or  anything  that  will  give  us  sub- 
stantial results  without  pains — if  there  be  such  a 
sphere.  "What  do  we  require  of  our  missionaries  to 
India?     Why,    that    they    learn,    with    pains    and 


46  CREATING-  POWER. 

trouble,  the  language  and  the  idioms  of  the  people, 
so  as  to  be  able  to  speak  to  them.  Thej  are 
useless  till  tliat  is  done.  And  are  not  souls  in 
Connecticut,. ]^ew  Hampshire,  and  ISTew  York,  to  be 
approached  in  much  the  same  way  as  in  Gujerat  or 
Lodiana  ? 

(c)  But  there  is  yet  another  gain,  greater,  perhaps, 
"than  either  of  these — namely,  j90^^(3/'  of  impression. 
A  man  will  often  pay  a  visit,  where  he  feels  little 
immediate  good  is  to  be  done,  but  he  says  to  him- 
self, "It  will  bring  them  under  the  Gospel  next 
Lord's  day ;  or  it  will  secure  their  hearing  it  without 
prejudice,  and  with  a  kindly  disposition  towards  the 
messenger."  They  expect  him.  They  will  be  vexed 
if  he  does  not  call.  Shall  he  stay  away  because  their 
ideas  are  inadequate  \  or  shall  he  go,  like  the  Master ; 
"  lest  we  should  offend  them  ? "  Persistent,  patient 
effort  in  a  man's  home  makes  the  preaching  a  very 
different  thing  to  him  in  the  pulpit.  "  He  believes 
every  word  of  it — he  told  it  over  to  me  many  a  time 
in  my  own  house,  only  not  so  grandly  as  he  is  telling 
it  now."  Gentlemen,  when  we  wind  up  our  organ 
on  Friday  and  Saturday,  and  grind  out  its  tunes  on 
Sabbath  to  the  people,  such  is  fallen  human  nature 


MISSED  FROM  CHUBCH.  47 

tliat  a  good  many  think  we  are  just  going  through 
our  professional  round,  and  that  when  it  is  done  it 
is  "done  with,"  as  far  as  we  are  concerned.  But 
if  we  come  to  a  man  on  Monday  and  press  the 
same  truth  on  him,  just  as  earnestly  as  we 
did  on  the  congregation  on  Sabbath,  be  begins 
to  think  there  is  something  in  it.  One  of 
the  most  successful  clergymen  I  ever  knew  was 
a  good  preacher,  but  would  never  have  been 
distinguished  merely  as  a  preacher.  Two  years 
ago  a  gentleman  of  intelligence  and  influence  told 
me  this  suggestive  story  of  him.  "  I  was  sent  to 
school  in  Belfast,"  said  he,  "  and  my  father  brought 
and  introduced  me  to  the  Doctor,*  and  provided  a 
sitting  for  me ;  "  (a  good  example,  by  the  way,  for 
all  parents  in  the  like  circumstances.)  "  I  attended 
very  well  for  a  couple  of  months,  till  I  got  a  little 
knowledge  of  the  town,  and  then  I  thought  one  Sun- 
day I  would  go  and  hear  some  one  else.     So  I  did. 


*  I  allude  to  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Morgan,  of  Belfast,  Ireland,  of 
whom  an  instructive  biography  has  appeared,  under  the  editor- 
ship of  his  son — also  a  faithful  minister.  No  man  known  to  me 
made  more  effective  use  of  all  the  gifts  he  possessed  "  in  the 
work  of  the  ministry." 


4:8  THE  LAPSING  MASSES. 

!Next  morning,  as  I  was  on  my  road  to  school,  I  met 
the  Doctor,  on  his  way  to  my  lodgings.  '  William,' 
said  he,  '  I  missed  you  from  church  yesterday,  and  I 
came  round  to  see  about  you.'  That  fact,"  said  he, 
"  that  he  missed  me,  and  came  to  look  after  me,  iixed 
TL\j  attendance,  perhaps  saved  me."  Gentlemen,  we 
are  to  reverse  that  maxim  of  the  law,  De  minimis 
lex  non  curat.  Nothing  is  too  small  for  our  notice, 
if  it  helps  our  ministry.  I  have  the  pleasure  of 
numbering  among  my  friends  a  minister,  of  whose 
usefulness  it  is  impossible  to  speak  in  too  high  terms, 
and  whose  ways  of  working  I  know,  because  when 
at  college  I  had  opportunity  to  observe  theiii.*  He 
is  the  type,  to  my  mind,  of  the  class  of  ministers  re- 
quired to  evangelize  our  lapsed  masses  in  the  great 
cities.  He  had  a  plain,  small,  and  inexpensive 
church-building,  adapted   to  the   people.      Wo  man 

*  The  Rev.  William  Jolinston,  the  late  efficient  Moderator  of 
the  Irish  General  Assembly,  is  still  an  active  and  vigorous 
minister,  whose  unselfish  and  most  patient  labor  in  the  cause  of 
orphans — among  many  other  public  services — have  resulted  in 
a  system,  through  which  every  child  of  the  Church,  in  clerical 
or  lay  family,  when  deprived  of  parents  and  means,  is  provided 
with  education,  home,  and  Christian  care,  at  the  cost  of  the 
Church— a  noble  work  surely  in  a  country  like  Ireland. 


CUBE  OF  SOULS.  49 

could  find  a  pretense  for  staying  away  in  the  incon- 
gruity between  his  own  shabby  appearance  and  the 
handsome  surroundings  in  the  church-edifice.  Many 
of  his  people  were  workingmen,  who  were  then  paid 
their  wages  on  Saturday  night — a  bad  plan,  now 
abandoned  in  many  places  in  the  interest  of  the 
tempted.  My  friend  knew  how  great  was  the  danger 
to  a  man  who  had  spent  six  long  days  in  a  mill,  or  a 
tenement  room  converted  into  a  workshop,  released 
on  a  Saturday  night,  wfth  his  week's  wages  in  his 
pocket.  His  sermons  were  ready  before  Saturday 
evening ;  and  about  the  time  when  a  man  might  be 
supposed  to  feel  the  attractions  of  the  "public- 
house,"  he  sallied  forth  for  a  round  among  such  of 
his  parishioners  as  he  knew  to  be  "  weak."  Rapidly 
passing  from  house  to  house,  with  the  question,  "  Is 
Thomas  in  ? "  "  Has  "William  come  home  ?  "  "  Where 
is  George  ? "  he  bestowed  warning,  commendation, 
counsel,  as  the  case  required,  and  in  fact  did  every- 
thing short  of  seeing  his  endangered  sheep  to  their 
beds,  before  he  sought  his  own,  often  at  late  mid- 
night. N^ow,  this  seems  very  prosaic  work — it  has 
few  aesthetic  attractions  for  a  cultivated  man.  But 
Thomas,  William,  and  George  felt  it  "  in  their 
3 


50  GROWING  CONGREGATIONS. 

bones  "  as  they  went  to  diurcli  next  day,  and  heard 
'their  pastor  preach.  And  their  wives — why,  "  Mr. 
Johnston  "  was  their  guardian  angel !  For  remem- 
ber, the  preserving  of  'Thomas  is  not  only  help  to  liis 
wife,  it  is  care  of  the  children,  is  the  saving  of  a 
family,  is  tlie  hiding  of  a  multitude  of  sins,  and  the 
saving  of  a  soul — perhaps  many  souls — from  death.* 
The  congregation  wliich  enjoyed  such  labors  is  now 
large ;  William,  Thomas,  and  George  have  become 
comfortable,  if  not  wealthy.  They  paid  their  few 
shillings  for  their  pews,  when  they  were  poor.  They 
paid  more  shillings  as  they  rose ;  and  well  they 
might,  for  how  much  the  Church  helped  their  ele- 
vation ;  and  their  children  are  now  men  and  women, 
and  bringing  their  young  ones  to  hear  the  good  man 
who  baptized  and  married  their  parents. 

This  is  a  form  of  acquired  power  which  we  are  in 
danger  of  losing  through  our  short  pastorates.  Do  we 
sufficiently  consider  the  difference  between  the  bril- 
liant pei-formance  of  a  man  who  comes  from  one 
knows  not  where,  to  go  one  knows  not  whither,  and 
the  sermon  that  has  behind  it  twenty  years  of  unself- 

*  James  v.  20. 


BRIEF  PASTOR  A  TES.  5 1 

ish,  faithful  friendship  to  the  hearers  ?  Something 
will  be  said,  later,  regarding  the  connection  between 
our  current  methods  of  preaching  and  short  pastor- 
ates ;  but,  in  the  meantime,  I  crave  leave  to  emphasize 
the  point  that  "patient  continuance  in  well-doing " 
gives  a  minister's  sermons  a  force  that  is  sui  generis  / 
"  there  is,"  as  David  said  of  Goliath's  sword,  "  none 
like  that,  give  it  me."  Let  your  fathers  tell  you  of 
the  patriarchs  of  the  pulpit,  whom  they  used  to  hear 
and  see ;  for  to  see  them — severe  as  was  their  dignity 
— was  a  sermon.  Times  have  changed,  indeed ;  but 
there  is  no  reason  in  the  nature  of  things  why-  this 
element  of  power  might  not  be  secured  and  con- 
served to  a  far  greater  degree  than  at  present,  if  we 
and  our  congregations  were  only  wise  in  our  gen- 
eration. Why,  on  our  present  plan,  a  boy  or  girl  has 
hardly  had  time  to  know  the  name  and  look  of  the 
pastor  till  he  is  saying  farewell ;  and  has  hardly 
learnt  to  discriminate  between  his  successor  and  the 
miscellaneous  crowd  of  men  who  were  "on  trials," 
till  that  successor  is  also  delivering  his  "  "Valedictory." 
All  which,  let  us  hope,  a  wiser  and  more  spiritual 
community  will  ultimately  change. 

There  is  one  wrong  impression  which  might  pos- 


52  CLOSE  TO  THE  PEOPLE. 

sibly  be  caught  from  the  drift  of  these  remark^;, 
namely,  that  personal  contact  with  the  people,  and 
diligence  in  the  good  offices  of  the  ministry,  is  to 
become  a  substitute  for  ability,  freshness,  and  force 
in  the  pulpit.  I  do  not  mean  that :  I  should  greatly 
deprecate  such  an  idea.  These  forms  of  personal 
contact  with  the  people  are  urged,  not  to  supplement 
weak,  common-place,  "milk-and-water"  talking  (the 
milk  often  left  out),  but  to  accompany,  illustrate, 
and  enforce  vigorous,  instructive  preaching,  and  to 
co-operate  harmoniously  with  it  in  forming  character 
and  winning  souls.  When  Arnold  preached  to  his 
boys  at  Kugby,  he  was  listened  to  all  the  more 
because  he  knew  his  Greek,  and  would  stand  no 
nonsense  on  Monday;  and  his  manly  uprightness 
and  thoroughness  in  school  made  his  sermons  in 
chapel  all  the  more  effective.  So  there  is  interaction 
between  the  visiting  and  the  preaching.  The  visit 
of  a  preacher  is  all  the  more  valued  because  the 
preaching  is  good ;  and  the  preaching  is  all  the  more 
appreciated,  because  the  visit  was  paid.  When  men 
and  women,  with  high  and  yet  constantly  repressed 
aspirations,  quit  dry-goods,  groceries,  and  house- 
keeping details,  and  go  to  church  to  hear  a  sermon. 


DEVOTED  MINISTERS.  53 

which  they  are  sure  will  be  to  them  like  a  summer 
breeze,  or  a  morning  of  mountain  air,  not  only  from 
what  they  have  heard  before,  but  from  what  they 
know  of  the  man,  his  personality  mingles  itself  with 
every  sentence  he  utters ;  and  when  he  makes  a  visit 
at  their  dwelling,  he  brings  into  their  home-life 
something  of  the  largeness,  nobleness,  heavenliness, 
which  they  link  in  their  memory  with  his  sermons. 
Such,  at  least,  is  my  ideal ;  how  far  it  is  from  being 
realized,  all  men  know.  But,  poor  and  feeble  as  we 
are,  we  should  be  still  poorer,  if  we  did  not  hold  up 
before  us  the  conception  of  a  genuine,  consecrated 
ministry,  including  all  the  life  of  a  man  who  has 
received,  like  Timothy,  the  Charisma,  "  the  gift," 
and  who  gives  himself  "  wholly  to  these  things."  * 

In  conclusion,  let  it  be  said  that  all  this  argument 
is  based  on  the  assumption  that  the  minister  is  a 
thorough  and  good  man.     If  he  be  only  veneered, 


*  How  forcible  are  these  words  written  to  Timothy  (1  Tim. 
iv.  15)  :  Tavra  jueXera,  ev  rovrot?  I'dOi,  "  let  these  things  be 
thy  care,  be  in  these  things."  What  things  ?  The  reading  of 
the  Scriptures  to  the  people,  the  exhortation  (sermon),  and  the 
doctrine,  or  teaching  (lecture,  or  expository  preaching),  v.  13. 
See  Ellicott  on  the  passage. 


54  GENUmE  MEN. 

or  varnislied,  or  gilt ;  if  he  is  one  tliyig  in  the  pulpit, 
and  another  out  of  it ;  if  his  sermons  are  no  part  of 
his  life,  but  only  oranges  stuck  on  a  pine  tree ; 
if  he  is  a  mere  official  person  giving  so  much  pleas- 
ant sound  for  so  much  money  and  position  ;  if  he 
is  only  an  artist,  selling  his  wares  ;  then  the  less  he 
comes  among  the  people  the  better.  He  may  wisely 
act  on  the  plan,  Prooiil  este  !  jprofani.  But  if  he  be 
solid  wood  throughout  (and  it  is  the  solid  and  hard 
wood  that  takes  a  polish),  then  the  nearer  the  people 
come  to  him  the  better  for  moral  and  spiritual 
influence.  And  the  experience  of  the  Church  is 
that  the  pastor  effects  the  most  in  the  end  who 
comes  into  closest  personal  contact  with  his  charge. 
1^0  amount  of  organizing,  no  skill  in  creating 
machinery  and  manipulating  "committees"  is  a 
substitute  for  this.  Who  feels  the  power  of  a 
tear  in  the  eye  of  a  committee  ?  The  minister  who 
'would  be  like  the  Master,  must  go  and,  like  Him, 
lay  the  warm,  kindly  hand  on  the  leper,  the 
diseased,  tlie  wretched.  He  must  toucli  the  blind 
eyes  with  something  from  himself.  The  tears  mast 
be  in  his  own  eyes  over  the  dead  who  are  to  be 
raised  to  spiritual  life.     Jesus  is  our  great  examplar. 


THE  MAN  OF  SORROWS,  55 

"Standing  wliere  I  stand,  and  weeping  where  1 
weep,  he  enters  by  the  openings  which  grief  has 
made  into  my  heart,  and  gently  makes  it  all  his  own. 
As  my  brother,  he  insinuates  liimself  into  me  througli 
the  emotion  of  om*  common  nature,  that  so  I  may  be 
borne  up  with  him  into  the  regions  of  spiritual  light 
and  liberty.  He  takes  hold  of  me  by  my  sorrow,  that 
I  may  get  hold  of  him  for  deliverance  from  my 
sin."*  "It  is  enough  for  the  disciple  that  he  be  as 
his  master."  f  "  Let  this  mind  be  in  you  which  was 
also  in  Christ  Jesus."  X 

*  Aruot's  "  Roots  and  Fruits  of  the  Christian  Life." 
f  Matt.  X.  25. 
X  Phil.  u.  5. 


LECTURE   III. 


In  the  imperfect  and  divided  condition  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  her  faithful  ministers  have  many- 
temptations  to  turn  from  their  main  theme,  and  not 
a  few  difficulties  in  the  way  of  prosecuting  their 
purely  spiritual  work. 

The  Church,  for  example,  is  parted  into  sections, 
and  the  division  has  not  always  been  made  or  main- 
tained in  enlightened  love.  A  man  is  tempted  to  be 
sectional  in  his  preaching,  to  dwell  on  what  has 
relative,  controversial,  or  denominational  impor- 
tance, so  as  to  distort  the  proportions  of  the  body 
of  truth.*  It  will  thus  come  to  pass  that  the  greater, 
admitted,  undisputed,  common  truths  receive  cursory 
treatment,  while  strength  and  time  are  laid  out  in 
emphazising  those   which    seem    to    constitute   the 

*  Our  fathers  used  to  speak  of  a  "  body  of  divinity."  Wliether 
they  saw  it  or  not,  there  is  something  very  suggestive  in  the 
phrase.     Every  member  in  my  body  has  not  an  equal  impor- 


"  OUR  POSITION."  57 

"  reason  to  be  "  of  one's  particular  branch.  And  it 
is  not  perhaps  unreasonable  to  assume  that  the 
smaller  the  denomination,  and  the  smaller  the 
apparent  reasons  for  its  distinct  organization,  the 
greater  will  be  this  temptation.  An  intelligent  and 
candid  man,  insulated  by  a  few  beliefs  from  those  to 
whom  he  otherwise  belongs,  can  hardly  help  feeling 
as  if  called  on  by  implication  for  a  defense  of  his 
separation.  So  the  essential  truths,  by  which  the 
souls  of  men  live,  may  be  pushed  out  of  their  com- 
manding position,  and  a  generation  may  grow  up  to 
whose  Christian  life  they  become  too  little  necessary. 
Denominational  truth  has  its  necessary  place.  Great 
discretion  is  needed  to  confine  it  strictly  thereto. 

Yehement  controversies  have  the  same  tendency. 
Just  as  in  the  siege  of  a  city  an  accident  may  render 
an  insignificant  tower  the  key  of  the  position,  for  the 
sake  of  which,  for  the  time,  the  I'est  is  comparatively 
forgotten,  so  a  doctrine  from  being  controverted  may 


tance  ;  every  one  is  useful  for  some  purpose  in  its  own  place, 
and  it  would  be  mischievous  to  take  any  one  from  its  place  and 
apply  it  to  another  purpose  than  that  for  which  it  was  formed 
and  intended.  So  every  truth  of  God  has  its  place,  and  we  are 
to  keep  it  there,  and  give  it  its  relative  prominence. 


68  ^  NEOE-SSARY  EVIL. 

have  given  it  disproportionate  attention,  and  may 
continue  to  receive  it  long  after  tlie  real  conflict  is 
over  ;  for  tlie  echoes  of  great  pulpits,  like  those  of  a 
trumpet  among  the  mountains,  are  frequent  and  far- 
resounding.  Meantime  the  positive,  uncontroverted 
truths  are  let  alone  ;  and  a  truth  forgotten  is  of  little 
more  value  to  any  one  than  a  truth  disbelieved.  We 
shall  not  be  able  to  dispense,  for  a  long  time  to  come, 
with  conflict  of  thought,  especially  where  men  may 
be  expected  to  feel  most  deeply  ;  and  in  this,  indeed, 
is  the  valid  defense  of  our  symbols,  creeds,  and  con- 
fessions. It  would  be  delightful  to  live  in  the  open 
air,  and  on  the  broad  savannas  of  general  truth,  if 
we  were  only  let  alone.  But  sophists  and  "philoso- 
phers," and  "scientists"  and  crotchety  men,  "even  of 
our  own  selves,"  arise  and  attack  us,  and  we  are 
obliged  to  throw  up  defenses  against  them,  in  the 
shape  of  articles,  and  doctrinal  positions,  so  as  to  keep 
our  ground,  and  transmit  our  heritage  to  our  children. 
As  they  shift  the  attack,  we  have  to  set  up  barriers ; 
hence  our  symbols  are  often  bulky,  and  men  do  not 
want  to  take  them  down  lest  it  invite  the  enemy 
again.  And  the  misfortune  is  that  the  Church  is 
blamed  for  encasino:  herself   in   a  line   of  fortifica- 


THE  CHELDREN'S  BREAD  59 

tions  by  the  very  "  unreasonable  men "  whose 
action  made  the  bulwarks  necessary  and  numerous, 
"While  this  necessity  remains,  the  most  we  can  do  is 
to  guai-d  against  the  dangers.  The  truth  which 
we  set  ""out  in  battle-array  against  a  foe  may  not  be 
the  bread  with  which  to  feed  the'  children  of  God. 
"  "Without  are  dogs  "  that  keep  up  a  continual  bark- 
ing, and  we  have  to  assure  the  timid  flock  within  of 
safety ;  but  we  must  not,  while  silencing  the  noise, 
forget  to  feed  the  sheep  with  food  "  convenient  for 
them." 

Those  early  and  heroic  preachers  who  built  up  the 
primitive  Church  did  not  escape  these  distracting 
annoyances,  and  they  did  not  shrink  from  inevitable 
conflict ;  but  neither  did  they  allow  themselves  to  be 
diverted  from  the  work  of  positive  truth-telling. 
When  they  mention  Jesus  Christ,' they  can  say  of 
Him,  "Whom  we  preach,. warning  every  man,  and 
teaching  every  man,  that  we  may -present  every  man 
perfect  in  the  day  of  Christ."  Col.  i.  28.  This  avowal 
of  the  Apostle  Paul  ought  to  be  engraven  on -every 
preacher's  memory,  and  burned  into  his  conscience.  It 
is  Jesus  "  "Whom-  we  (solemnly)  preach  "  {Karay- 
ysXo/J8v)    for    the   message   is    momentous   in    the 


60  REPENT  AND  BELIEVE. 

highest  degree ;  belief  of  it  is  life,  rejection  of  it  is 
death.  "Warning  "  {vov^srovytei — putting  it  to  the 
vovi)  "  every  man,  and  teaching  every  man."  The 
two  words  cover  the  ground.  Men  are  sinful.  Nor 
is  this  an  evil  chance  that  has  happened  to  .them. 
They  are  to  be  blamed  for  it,  and  to  be  shown  their 
sin.  And  they  are  to  be  taught,  to  be  shown  the  way 
of  forgiveness  and  life,  that  they  may  walk  in  it. 
The  two  words  well  correspond  to  the  actual  case  of 
the  earliest  apostolic  preaching.  "  Repent  and  be 
baptized  (as  believers),  every  one  of  you,  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  remission  of  sins."  (Acts  ii. 
38) ;  or  "  Repent  ye,  therefore,  and  be  converted,  that 
your  sins  may  be  blotted  out."  Acts  iii.  19.  Men 
need  to  be  shown  their  sin  ;  hence,  "  warning  every 
man  :"  they  need  to  be  shown  the  Saviour ;  hence 
"  teaching  every  man." 

]^or  is  there  any  latitude  allowed,  as  if  some  could 
dispense  with  the  warning.  "  Every  man "  needs 
it,  for  every  man  is  a  sinner ;  and  if  it  be  true  that 
too  many  lay  down  their  Christian  profession  with 
fatal  facility,  may  it  not  be  because  they  took  it  up 
without  any  duly  pungent  sense  of  sin  and  ill-desert  ? 
They  had  no  such   conviction  as  left  a  permanent 


GOOD  CONFESSION  61: 

impress  on  their  minds  of  the  essential  evil  and  hate- 
fulness  of  sin.  In  a  natural  reaction  from  that  style 
of  teaching  that  made  such  and  such  exercises,  and 
so  miich  conviction  a  sine  qua  non  to  admission 
to  the  Church,  is  there  not  danger  of  overlooking 
that  reasoning  of  righteousness,  temperance,  and 
judgment  to  come,  in  which  Paul  engaged  ?  We 
cannot,  indeed,  too  eagerly  or  too  frequently  cry, 
"  Come  to  Jesus."  But  to  make  this  call  intelligent 
and  emphatic,  we  must  needs  assign  Scriptural 
reasons.  "We  must  not  scruple  to  say,  "  Come  !  for 
you  have  sinned.  You  are  guilty.  If  you  do 
not,  you  will  die ;  for  the  wages  of  sin  is  death." 
This  carries  the  step  of  "  professing  religion  "  out 
of  the  region  of  mere  sentiment ;  it  rests  it  on 
conviction.  We  utter  an  invitation  to  One  who 
is  indeed  "  altogether  lovely ; "  but  we  give  it, 
and  without  disguise,  to  all  who  are  altogether 
unlovely,  and  whom  we  are  to  help  to  this  self 
knowledge. 

"I  really  felt,"  said  one  of  no  common  acuteness, 
"  that  when  I  joined  the  Church,  I  had  done  a  most 
gracious  thing,  and  laid  the  Church  under  great 
obligations  to  me,  so  eagerly  had  I  been  entreated 


62  Q,  VALITY  NO T  Q  TJANTITY. 

to  take  this  step."  They  who.  *'  join "  *  in  this 
temper  are  likely  enough  to  require  "  humoring," 
indulgence,  and  attentions  innumerable.  Have  they, 
not  obliged  the  minister,  elders,  and  deacons,  by 
consenting  to  "join?"  Obliged  men  by  taking  de- 
liverance from  guilt  and  hell  at  the  hand  of  a  com- 
passionate Redeemer,  who  bought  the  deliverance 
with  His  life  !  Let  us  not  be  afraid  to  put  the  facts 
as  they  are ;  let  us  be  true  to  the  truth  of  things. 
We  are  not  "  of  the  schools,"  this  or  that.  "We  are 
teachers  of  Bible-truth.  Let  us  be  pre-Raphaelite, 
showing  men  sin,  guilt,  danger,  loss,  ruin,  as  they  are. 
We  may  draw  fewer  on  this  plan  than  others  seem 
to  do ;  but  our  net  will  not  so  often  break.  The  quan- 
tity is  less  important  here  than  the  quality.  The 
stream  of  Christian  profession  may  seem  narrower  on 
this  plan,  but  it  will  be-  deeper.  Church-members 
will  know  where  they  stand,  will  have  positive  convic- 

*  Is  it  not  possible  to  get  a  better  phrase  than  this  for  ad- 
vancing in  the  enjoyment  of  Cliristian  privilege  ?  for  surely 
tlie  word  misleads,  at  least  in  the  case  of  multitudes  who  were 
born  into  the  Church,  had  their  rights  owned  in  baptism,  and 
who  grew  up  under  the  Church's  teaching  ?  A  young  man 
does  not  "  join"  the  land  of  his  birth  the  first  time  he  registers 
or  casts  his  vote. 


NO  OTHER  NAME.  63 

tions,  and  instead  of  requiring  perpetual  incense 
from  the  Church,  as  from  a  community  they  have 
"patronized,  they  will  rather  feel  like  the  returned 
prodigal:  "lam  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy 
son  ;  make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired  servants."  And 
when  the  ring,  and  robe,  and  shoes,  and  kiss,  and 
feast,  are  given  them — such  gifts  as  no  slave  could 
receive  and  be  a  slave — they  will  know  that  they  are 
not  of  debt,  but  of  grace. 

Kor  is  this  double  work  included  in  .  preach 
ing  Christ  a  thing  "  done  and  done  with "  so 
soon  as  men  have  "received  the  atonement."  It  is 
to  be  continuous.  Till  the  ear  of  the  saint  is  closed 
in  death,  this  sound  is  to  fall  upon  it.  It  is  not  one 
law  that  condemns  a  sinner,  and  another  that  guides 
a  saint.  J^or  does  a  believer  cease  to  have  to  do 
with  the  law,  or  with  the  sin  it  reveals  or  condemns. 
He  is  pardoned,  adopted,  saved  ;  but  he  is  a  sinner 
till  "  death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory."  "  Sinner  " 
is  the  substantive  for  him,  cpalify  it  as  you  will  by 
foregoing  words.  "  That  we  may  present "  *  (not 
as  a  sacrifice,  but  as  a  piece  of  work  to  be  approved) 

*  Col.  1.  28. 


6i  CHRIST  THE  SUN. 

every  man  "perfect"  [rsXeiov,  see  Matt.  v.  48)  "in 
Christ."  Maturity  of  Christian  life  is  thus  acquired 
by  "  every  man."  The  law  which  was  written  on 
the  heart,  and  obeyed  in  the  earthly  life  of  Jesus,  is 
written  also  on  the  heart  of  the  saint.  He  delights 
to  do  God's  will.  This  is  the  aim  of  a  true  minister. 
Like  Epaphras,  he  will  be  always  "  laboring  fervently  " 
{ayoovi8,o)j.£voi)  in  prayers,  that  his  charge  may 
stand  perfect  and  complete  in  all  the  will  of  God." 
(Col.  iv.  12.)  So  says  the  noble  and  unselfish  Paul, 
"  To  which  end  T  also  labor  striving "  (again 
aya>vi^ojusvo?)  "  according  to  his  working  who 
worketh  in  me  mightily.     (Ch:  i.  29.) 

Here,  then,  Gentlemen,  is  the  commanding  theme 
of  your  preaching.  Around  the  sun  of  this  central 
Christ-doctrine,  all  other  truths  revolve  as  planets  or 
as  satellites.  Why  did  He  come  ?  God  pitied  sin- 
ners. Why  must  He  die  ?  "  Without  shedding  of 
blood  there  is  no  remission."  Why  do  we  need  Him  ? 
We  are  dead  in  sin,  under  the  law's  curse.  What  are 
we  to  do  with  our  sin  ?  Carry  it  to  the  cross.  How 
can  it  be  removed  ?  "  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ 
cleanseth  from  all  sin."  Wliat  shall  men  believe? 
That  Christ  is  able  and  willing  to  save.     To  whom 


JESUS  ONLY.  ^5 

shall  tliey  go  ?  To  God  in  Christ.  In  whom  shall 
they  trust?  A  personal,  living  Jesus  who  was  dead, 
and  dieth  no  more.  How  shall  they  loathe  their  sin? 
By  looking  at  the  crucified  Christ.  •  How  shall  they 
vanquisli  it?  In  the  strength  of  the  risen  Jesus. 
Ah  !  but  the  w&j  is  long  and  hard,  and  the  struggle 
is  unutterably  wearying !  Even  so.  There  is  no  help 
for  it  "but  to  run  with  patience  the  race  set  before 
US,  looking  to  Jesus."  Men  need  to  be  awakened. 
The  Crucified  One  is  the  most  awakening  sight  in  the 
universe.  There  is  no  attraction  like  that  of  the 
cross,  if  men  are  to  be  won.  Nothing  will  melt  a  sin- 
ner, if  his  heart  is  to  be  softened,  like  a  pierced 
Saviour  (Zecb.  xii.  10) ;  nothing  to  give  life,  if  a 
dead  soul  is  to  be  quickened,  but  the  touch  of  the 
living  Saviour ;  nothing  to  sustain,  if  a  living  soul  is  to 
be  fed,  but  the  living  bread  ;  none  to  carry  through, 
if  men  are  to  conquer,  but  He  who  hath  loved  ns. 
"  Culture "  is  one  of  the  cant  phrases  of  our  time. 
Gentlemen,  as  preachers  we  are  to  promote  Christian 
culture,  by  bringing  the  dead  branches  to  the  living 
Yine,  that,  grafted  into  it,  without  priest  or  sacra- 
ment, or  a  rag  of  human  righteousness  between, 
the  life  in  Him  may  enter  them;  and  by  keeping 


GQ,  ■     COMPLETE  JJSr  SIM. 

them,  as  far  as  teacliing  and  example  can  do  it,  abid- 
ing in  Him,  that  thej  may  bring  forth  fruit.  You 
would  be  "  edifying"  preachers  ?  What  does  the  fig- 
ure in  the  word  suggest  ?  Why,  you  set  men  on  the 
foundation  and  you  build  them  up  on  Him.  You 
would  be  useful  preachers  ?  Then,  remember,  in  the 
day  when  the  fire  shall  try  every  man's  work  of  what 
sort  it  is,  the  eloquence,  the  tact,  the  poetry,  the  phi- 
losophy, the  curious  felicity  of  words,  the  manifold 
gifts  and  graces  that  were  not  directed  to  keeping 
before  men  Christ  as  Saviour,  Lord,  Master,  Law- 
giver, Example — not  a  priest  only,  to  snatch  us  fi-om 
pain  and  miserable  ruin,  but  a  King  to  rule  us  and 
recover  us  to  God,  "  a  priest  upon  his  throne^'' — will 
be  among  the  wood,  hay,  and  stubble.  Ah  !  many  of 
us,  one  fears,  who  are  applauded  now,  will  be  poor 
then  in  comparison  with  obscure  and  lowly  preachers 
Avho  preached  Christ,  and  whose  work  wall  shine 
resplendent,  as  gold  and  precious  stones,  in  the  light 
of  the  great  White  Throne  ! 

"  But,"  says  some  one,  "  I  shall  be  precluded  from 
a  large  portion  of  Scripture  by  this  rule."  Far  from 
it.  Look  at  the  fine,  fanciful,  spirit aalizing  of  the 
historical  books  to  be  found  in  a  large  class  of  writers, 


THE  CENTRAL  FIGURE.  67 

whose  school  dates  from  Origen.  Do  not  their  very 
exaggerations  prove  the  reality  of  Christ  in  them  all  ? 
Look  at  the  epistle  to  the  Ilebrews,  full  of  Christ ! 
But  who  understands  it,  if  ignorant  of  the  Penta- 
teuch ?  The  dreary  records  of  apostasy,  humiliation, 
partial  penitence,  and  recovery  of  the  Jews,  seem  far 
enough  from  this  great  theme.  But  they  only  seem 
so.  What  is  their  lesson  to  us?  "  ]t^either  let  us 
tempt  Christ,  as  some  of  them  also  tempted  him." 
1  Cor.  X.  9.  The  Psalms  are  often  meditative, 
experimental,  sometimes  imprecatory  of  stern  wrath 
on  the  Psalmist's  wicked  foes,  because  external  pros- 
perity was  then  the  sign  of  divine  favor,  and  when 
the  sacred  writer  calls  for  their  humiliation  and  ruin, 
he  asks  that  God  would  declare,  in  the  only  language 
then  understood — that  he  would  prove  by  the  only 
test  then  recognized — His  displeasure  against  them. 
But  have  we  no  Messianic  Psalms  ?  It  is  true  the 
prophets  often  seem  obscure,  abrupt,  and  unintelligi- 
ble, mainly  because  we  have  given  them  too  little 
study.  Isaiah  was  not  hopelessly  such  to  Dr.  Addi- 
son Alexander,  nor  is  Daniel  to  Dr.  Pusey  :  and  they 
spake  of  Him.  "  To  him  gave  all  the  prophets 
witness." 


68  SCRIPTURE  EXPOSITION. 

And  this  suggests  the  wisdom  of  taking  to  a 
larger  extent  than  we  do,  chapters,  or  parts  of  chap- 
ters, and  expounding  them.  We  set  out  bits  of 
Scripture  in  great  beauty,  like  the  separate  tiles  of 
a  mosaic  floor.  Let  us  be  expository  to  a  greater 
extent,  and  the  people  will  have  the  opportunity  to  see 
the  pattern.  We  are  liable  to  distort  separate  texts, 
and  to  misplace  their  messages.  Let  us  help  the 
people  to  look  at  groups  of  truths  as  they  are  set  side 
by  side  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  "  When  my  own  mind 
is  not  very  full,"  said  a  useful  preacher,  "  I  like  to 
get  hold  of  a  large  piece  of  Scripture."  Not  that  an 
honest  and  effective  expositor  will  find  or  make  this 
work  easier  than  textual  or  topical  preaching ;  for  it 
requires  thorough  study  and  honest  effort  to  bring 
words  written  to  Jews,  or  Christiaris  eighteen  hun- 
dred years  ago,  into  the  plane  of  our  life.  But  it  can 
be  done ;  and  when  done  well,  an  intelligent  and 
devout  hearer  will  be  apt  to  feel  that  he  has  been 
addressed  by  the  Lord,  more  directly  than  in  many 
sermons  equally  true  and  effective. 

That  some  definite  idea  may  be  conveyed  on  this 
subject,  let  a  few  sentences  be  here  devoted  to  its 
consideration. 


FALSE  IDEALS.  69 

Expository  preaching  does  not  mean  a  rambling 
paraphrase  of  a  chapter  or  a  portion  of  a  chapter, 
with  a  dexterous  turn  given,  now  and  then,  to  the 
inspired  words,  so  that  they  shall  hit  current  events. 
Nor  does  it  mean  a  devout_  meditation,  such  as  one 
finds  in  the  practical  notes  of  Thomas  Scott's  "  Com- 
mentary"— admirable  as  they  are.  ISTor  does  it 
mean  a  subtle,  ingenious  twisting  of  the  facts  or 
minor  incidents  of  Scriptm'e,  so  that  they  shall  all 
be  made  to  disclose  vital,  spiritual  truth.  The  illus- 
trations of  this  style  of  Bible-use  are  abimdant  in  the 
mystics,  and  in  various  types  of  modern  teachers,  of 
undoubted  good  intentions,  but  whose  "  readings " 
suggest  to  ordinary  men  that  the  divine  word  is 
elastic,  capable  of  sustaining  anything  an  ingenious 
fancy  suggests.  They  are  continually  reading  be- 
tween the  lines.,  ISTor  is  true  exposition  perfectly 
illustrated  in  saintly  Matthew  Henry,  or  a  class  of 
works  modeled  on  the  plan  of  his,  where  various 
interpretations  of  the  same  Scripture  are  given  with 
devout  reflections  founded  on  each — "if  it  be  the 
true  interpretation."  A  certain  feeling  of  insecurity 
attends  an  intelligent  hearer,  under  this  instruction. 
"  The  fire-brands  and  the  foxes  employed  by  Samson, 


70  "EXTEMPORE." 

according  to  some  authorities,  mean" — so  and  so. 
"  If  this  be  correct,  then  we  may  learn "  such  and 
such  lessons.  ''"  Or,  according  to  others,  they  repre- 
sent" so  and  so.  "If  this  is  the  correct  rendering, 
then  we  may  learn  "  snch  and  such  lessons.  Lessons 
taught  in  this  loose  fashion  are  felt  to  be  hypothetical, 
like  their  basis.  The  "if"  of  their  premises  runs 
on  into  their,  conclusions.  Is^or,  finally,  is  the  ex- 
pository preaching,  to  which  we  give  hearty  com- 
mendation, a  general  godly  talking  concerning  a 
particular  chapter,  when  almost  any  other  would 
have  served  equally  well,  which  begins  nowhere  in 
particular,  which  is  interspersed  with  feeble  appeals — 
"  my  brethren,  is  this  your  happy  case  ? "  and .  of 
which  one  feels,  when  it  is  over,  that. there  was  no 
particular  reason  why  it  should  have  stopped  there 
more  than  anywhere  else.  Such  "  expounding  "  has 
brought  into  disrepute  the  true  "reasoning  out  of 
the  Scriptures,"  *  for  which  we  plead,  just  as  loose, 
inconsecutive,  feeble  preaching — "  extempore,"  j^er- 
haps,  in  the  literal  sense — ^lias  brought  discredit  on 
the  method  in  the  pulpit,  which  men  almost  univer- 
sally employ  at  the  bar,  on  the  platform,  and  in  the 
*  Acts  xvii.  2. 


ONE  DIRECTION.  71 

Senate — a  discredit  so  deep  that  it  is  said  that 
ministers  preaching  without  notes  have  sometimes 
placed  paper  before  them,  and  affected  to  use  it, 
thus  by  a  "  pious  fraud  "  saving  the  people  from  the 
indifference  they  would  have  felt  if  they  had  sup- 
posed their  pastor  merely  talking  to  them  out  of  a 
clear  head  and  a  full  heart. 

By  expository  preaching  we  mean  that  in  which  a 
minister,  having,  by  the  aid  of  grammar,  dictionary, 
and  all  jDroper  helps,  learned  for  himself  what  mean- 
ing the  Holy  Ghost  intended  to  convey  in  the  passage 
he  has  in  hand,  and  then  what  uses  we  ought,  in 
harmony  with  the  rest  of  divine  teaching,  to  make 
of  it,  and  having  filled  his  own  understanding,  and 
warmed  his  own  heart  with  this  truth,  tells  it  to  his 
people,  ^vith  clearness,  simplicity,  force,  and  fervor. 
They  are  supposed  to  have  their  Bibles  in  hand,  to 
examine  his  references  where  they  are  adduced  as 
proofs.  The  selection  should  be  so  made  that  the 
parts  of  the  passage  shall  have  a  certain  unity  and 
concentration  of  pui'pose.  One  deep  impression 
should  be  made.  ITow,  it  may  be  alleged  that  this 
is  effected  in  substance  in  a  sermon :  and  happily- 
many  sermonizers  do  falj.  into  an  expository  method. 


72  •  V'OR  EXAMPLE. 

But  we  are  more  sure,  it  must  be  admitted,  of  making 
the  impression  the  Lord  intended,  when  we  give  the 
truth  in  the  exact  settings  in  which  inspiration  has 
placed  it.  Let  me  illustrate.  A  minister  wishes  to 
preach  on  the  sin  of  robbing  God  in  the  matter  of 
property.  He  can  get  a  text  in  Malachi,*  of  great 
force  and  pungency.  Scriptural  illustrations  abound, 
and  he  may  preach  a  very  useful,  and  often  quite 
needful,  sermon.  Or  the  same  preacher  may  take 
eleven  verses  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles, f  and  give 
an  exposition  of  the  miracle  of  judgment  in  the 
opening  of  the  Christian  dispensation,  corresponding 
to  that  by  which  God  w'arued  the  Jews  in  the  matter 
of  Achan,  as  they  entered  on  their  promised  land. 
He  sets  forth  the  temper,  condition,  generosity  of 
the  converts ;  shows  how  a  spirit  of  liberality  was  in 
the  air ;  how  soon  credit  came  to  be  thought  of  in 
the  Church ;  how  two  persons  conspired — a  degree  of 
guilt  greater  than  individual  sin — for  a  man  will 
often  do  what  onl}^  a  more  hardened  transgressor  can 
talk  of  ;  how  the  iniquity  was  exposed;  the  darkness 
of  the  crime  and  punishment  all  the  more  apparent 
standing  out  in  relief  against  the  grace  being  enjoyed 

*  Mai.  iii.  8.  f  Acts  v.  1-11. 


MENTAL  PICTURES.  73 

ami  the  mercy  being  displayed.  What  is  the  gain  of 
this  method  ?  Why,  the  memory  is  charged  with 
facts,  instead  of  abstract  principles.  A  large  portion 
of  G.od's  word  is  presented  ;  and  so  the  Holy  Ghost, 
I  hnmbly  think,  is  honored.  A  vivid  idea  is  given 
of  the  condition  of  the  primitive  church,  and  of  the 
authority  with  which  the  risen  Lord  clothed  his 
saints.  All  the  impression  is,  moreover,  made  that 
could  be  expected  from  a  disquisition  on  robbing 
God.  And  finally,  if  the  expositor  has  done  his 
work  faithfully  and  effectively,  whenever  his  hearers 
afterwards  read  that  section  of  the  apostolic  history, 
it  will  be  luminous  before  memory,  understanding, 
and  imagination.* 

There  are  some  considerations  in  favor  of  con- 
secutive exposition,  as  of  Epistles  or  sacred  biog- 
raphies.      Thoughtful    hearers   will    be   interested. 

*  Miracles,  Parables,  Psalms,  no  less  than  incidents  and  argu- 
ments, admit  of  effective  treatment  in  this  way.  The  well-known 
volumes  of  the  present  Archbishop  of  Dublin  (including  his  ex- 
position of  the  "  Epistles  to  the  Seven  Churches  ")  are  scholarly, 
honest,  sober-minded,  and  generally  safe,  while  ttey  show  what 
good  use  may  be  made  of  classical  and  patristic  literature-  in 
ascertaining  or  in  ilhistrating  the  mind  of  the  spirit.  In  entirely 
different  styles  Leighton  (on  Peter)  and  Candlish  (on  1  Cor.  xv.) 
are  masters. 


74  FEED  THE  FLOCK. 

Thej  are  not  indeed  the  majority  in  most  congrega- 
tions ;  but  they  are  the  most  worthy  of  consideration. 
They  are  the  belts  that  convey  and  redirect  power. 
There  is  a  generation  that  does  not  rehsh  this  con- 
secutive teaching,  that  misses  the  joy  of  guessing 
what  is  to  be  talked  of.  The  younger  persons  w^ho 
frequent  city  churches,  particularly  in  the  evenings, 
and  whose  deepest  feelings  are  not  interested  in  the 
service,  do  not  like  what  assumes  on  their  part 
memory,  which  they  do  not  exercise,  attention 
which  they  divide  with  many  other  mattei's,  and 
attendance  which  is  with  them  a  matter  of  chance. 
But  one  is  hardly  to  turn  away  from  a  useful  method 
of  edifying  the  Church,  because  the  "  casuals  "  do 
not  value  it.  We  are  here  more  concerned  about  the 
manna  for  the  host  of  Israel,  than  the  taste  of  the 
camp-followers.*       There   are   many  incidental   ad- 

*  The  lectures  on  tlie  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  hy  Chalmers, 
offer  a  splendid  exainple  in  one  style.  The  "  Life  of  David  " 
has  been  frequently  used  for  expository  purposes,  nowhere  inore 
effectively  surely  than  in  the  recent  volume  of  Dr.  Wm.  M. 
Taylor,  the  vividness,  discrimination,  and  devoutness  of  whose 
lectures  entitle  them  to  the  careful  examination  of  students,  and 
should  commend  them  to  the  attention  of  general  readers.  In 
an    entirely    different   style    may  be   mentioned  "  The    Royal 


'  LIGUT  JiND  HEAT.  75 

vantages  attendant  on  tlie  expository  nietliod.     Two 
only  we  shall  mention. 

(«)  When  the  tire  of  Christian  feeling  is  burning 
low  on  the  altar  of  our  hearts,  far  more  than  by  any 
vivid  pictures  of  divine  things,  or  fervid  exhortation, 
will  it  be  kindled  and  fed  by  contact  with  the  very 
.  word  of  God,  set  forth  in  its  native  force,  and  allowed 
to  speak  for  itself.  This  has  been  the  experience  of 
the  best  minds. 

(b)  The  power  of  producing  able,  ornate,  finished 
sermons  in  the  essay  form  is  to  most  men  limited. 
They  must  needs  go  back  on  their  store.  Suppose 
Bacon,  Fuller,  Macaulay,  Lamb,  or  even  John  Foster, 
to  have  been  under  obligation  to  give  an  essay  twice 
or  thrice  a  week,  along  with  all  other  duties  such  as 
ministers  must  do,  and  this  for  years,  how  soon  a 
cliange  of  parish  would  be  desirable  !  But  we  venture 
to  think  there  is  no  such  limit  to  the  power  of  in- 
structing, edifying,  and  deeply  interesting  a  congrega- 
tion for  many  years,  on  the  method  of  making,  say 

Preaclier,"  a  series  of  lectures,  not  continuous,  on  Ecclcsiastes. 
Their  method,  however,  should  only  be  followed  by  men  assured 
of  their  possession  of'  such  poetic  faculty  and  scriptural  anchor- 
age as  Dr.  James  Hamilton  enjoyed. 


76  THE  HIGHEST  THEMES. 

one-half  the  addresses  expository.  For  a  minister 
doing  this  duty  conscientiously  acquires  a  fullness  of 
mind  from  his.-  Bible  which  facilitates  sermonizing 
and  eyevj  other  department  of  liis  work.  ITor  is  he 
so  liable  on  this  plan  to  get  into  a  rat  of  thinkin<j 
and  teaching  as  on  tlie  ordinary  plan  of  preparing 
sermons. 

The  principle  that  positive  truth  regarding  Christ 
is  to  be  the  staple  of  our  teaching,  excludes,  I  humbly 
think,  much  foreign  matter  that  finds  its  way  into  tlie 
pulpit.  I  do  not  refer  to  social,  or  sesthetic,  or  purely 
political  matters.  Touching  this  last,  it  is  right  to  say 
that  in  days  gone  by  the  ministers  of  this  land  were 
the  instructors  and  leaders  of  the  public  in  civil  affairs. 
This  is  sometimes  forgotten  now  by  noisy  and  inter- 
ested demagogues  who  object  to  ministerial  expres- 
sion of  political  views  opposed  to  theirs :  but  the 
ministers  of  America  inspired  with  their  lofty 
thoughts,  and  prayed  into  success,  the  Revolutionary  • 
struggle.  Crises  may  come  when  fidelity  to  Christ 
demands  political  teaching  from  ministers.  JBut  these 
are  extraordinary.  We  speak  of  ordinary  conditions 
of  life.  Our  observation  applies  to  a  different  class 
of  discussions. 


LET  TEEM  ALONE.  77 

There  are,  and  always  have  been  men  everywhere, 
trying  their  strength  upon  Christianity.  We  are 
nnder  no  obligation  to  turn  aside  to  notice  every 
assailant,  and  endeavor  to  set  his  argument  in  its 
pi-oper  position,  so  as  to  be  able,  in  the  intelligent 
judgment  of  our  hearers,  to  upset  it.  There  are 
many  men  undertaking  to  deal  with  Darwinism,  or 
with  the  views  of  Tyndall  and  Huxlej^,  in  their 
pulpits,  who  seem  to  me  to  be  wasting  their  power. 
Think,  Gentlemen,  for  a  moment  of  the  most  intel- 
ligent congregations  to  which  we  ordinarily  preach  ; 
how  many  men  are  there  in  them  who  could  intelli- 
gently state  the  philosophical  views  and  scientific 
opinions  of  such  men  as  Professor  Tyndall  ?  Are  there 
twenty,  or  fifteen,  or  ten,  or  five  ?  In  many  cases  none. 
It  seems  to  me  a  waste  of  energy  to  be  compelled,  fii'st 
of  all,  to  set  up  a  fortification  in  the  name  of  some 
man,  explain  to  the  congregation  what  you  are  ham- 
mering at,  and  then  proceed  to  overthrow  it.  As  a 
general  thing,  we  may  allow,  those  things  to  take  care 
of  themselves  in  their  own  plane.  We  do  the  best 
we  can  when  we  set  forth  the  truth  in  the  way  in 
which  God  presents  it  to  us.  I  do  not  wish  to  be 
understood,  in  making  this  statement,  as  decr^^ng  or 


V8  WHAT  MEN  WANT. 

depreciating  in  the  least  the  most  vahiable  and  emi- 
nent labors  of  men  who,  as  professors  in  colleges,  as 
editors  and  writers,  deal  with  these  inquirers  and 
objections.  They  are  in  their  proper  place ;  we  owe 
a  debt  of  gratitude  to  them  ;  and  we  need  not  fear  to 
leave  the  matter  in  their  hands.  They  will  deal  with 
it,  and  effectively.  If  I,  a  minister,  were  to  preach 
on  political  matters,  it  is  not  likely  I  could  get  a 
hearing  from  the  editors  and  politicians.  They 
know,  or  suppose  themselves  to  know,  much  more 
about  these  things  than  I  do ;  and  have  I  any  right 
to  suppose  that  I  shall,  be  able  to  edify  college  pro- 
fessors and  learned  men  by  dabbling,  in  the  pulpit, 
with  their  abstruse  scientific  questions  ?  Why,  they 
know  these  topics  much  better  than  I  can  pretend  to 
do  :  and  if  they  are  wise,  they  would  be  glad  of  a 
little  rest  from  them  on  the  Lord's  Day.  Let  them 
have-  it.  Have  I  any  reason  to  suppose  that  I 
shall  be  able  to  present  the  attractions  of  the  theater 
in  the  pulpit,  on  the  Lord's  Day,  in  such  a  manner  as 
will  satisfy  the  ordinary  theater-goers  of  the  city  ? 
Every  night  they  can  have  them  in  far  more  fascinat- 
ing fashion  than  I  can  offer.  Just  as  little  reason 
have  I  to  suppose  that  I  shall  attract  scientific  un- 


COMMENDING  TEE  TR  TJTII.  70 

belicvci's  by  scientific  expositions  from  tlie  pulpit. 
But  there  are  certain  questions  everlastingly  asked 
by  the  human  soul — deep,  grave  questions — which  it  is 
for  us  to  answer,  not  as  of  our  research  or  inquiry, 
not  on  our  authority,  but  ministerially,  as  messengers 
delivering  a  message,  as  embassadors  bringing  terms 
from  the  Lord  God  Almighty.  AVe  have  to  make 
known  Jesus  Christ ;  we  have  to  declare  a  revealed 
way  of  life,  and  to  win  assent  to  it  on  the  divine 
authority.  We  need,  that  we  worthily  make  this 
pi-esentation,  meekness  and  grace,  manly  courage  and 
fidelity.  A  short  time  ago  it  was  my  lot  to  pass  a 
few  days  in  the  extreme  north  of  the  State  of 
Michigan.  While  I  was  there,  I  met  my  country- 
man, the  Governor-General  of  Canada,  who  made  a 
visit  to  the  place.  At  the  fort  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  a 
salute  of  seventeen  guns  was  fired  in  honor  of  His 
Excellency — guns  never  to  be  pointed,  let  us  hope, 
towards  Canada  in  any  other  way.  All  were  delighted 
with  the  Governor.  We  were  all  thorough  Americans, 
with  a  due  appreciation  of  our  national  advantages, 
and  their  immense  superiority  to  monarchical  institu- 
tions. The  grace,  the  ease,  the  intelligence,  the 
affabilit}^,  and  the  courtesy  exhibited  among  us  pro- 


80  OdB  ROYAL  MASTER. 

diiced  a  deep  feeling  of  admiration  and  respect  for 
the  representative  of  the  British  Government.  Tliere 
at  least  nothing  was  thought  of  but  the  good  side  of 
royalty  and  nobility,  and  nothing  spoken  of  but  the 
satisfaction  of  mutual  friendship.  But,  Gentlemen, 
if  we  would  but  think  of  it,  we  bear  the  Commission 
of  a  King,  our  Saviour,  far  above  all  worldly  digni- 
ties, and  we  plead  for  Him  and  represent  Him  to 
men.  With  what  love  and  devotion  ought  His 
presence  to  inspire  us !  and  with  what  courage, 
dignity,  and  confidence  we  should  speak  in  His 
name  to  men !  Oh  that  we  may  have  given  us  so 
to  labor  that  His  holy  cause  suffer  no  harm  at  our 
hands  ! 


LECTURE  IV. 


So  far,  Gentlemen,  tlie  argument  running  throngli 
these  observations  has  been  of  this  kind  :  The  Church 
being  as  we  have  represented  it,  what  should  its 
ministry  be?  Again,  the  aim  and  design  of  the 
ministry  being  as  we  have  represented  them,  by 
what  means  should  its  work  be  prosecuted,  and  what 
place  does  the  sermon  occupy  to  related  and  auxiliary 
agencies  ?  And  if  we  have  ascertained  generally  the 
plan  of  preachhig,  what,  in  view  of  the  Church's 
nature,  and  the  purposes  of  the  ministry,  ought  to 
be  tlie  themes  of  the  pulpit,  and  what  their  proper 
treatment  ? 

"We  have  now  before  us,  in  a  general  way,  the  work 
of  a  preacher,  or,  more  exactly,  of  a  pastor ;  and  before 
coming  to  the  processes  of  making  and  delivering  a 
sermon,  the  previous  question  may  be  fitly  put  and 
discussed  in  this  hour — what  preparation  can  we 
make  for  the  work  •  of  preaching  ? 


82  PRESERVE  HEALi'n. 

Physical  considerations  are  not  despicable,  as  many 
a  feeble-bodied  preacher  knows.  You  cannot  deter- 
mine the  strength  of  yonr  chests,  or  the  vigor  of  your 
constitutions ;  but  you  can  conserve  what  you  have 
received,  by  proper  food,  little  enough  of  it,  pure  air, 
and  sufficient  exercise.  Charles  Simeon,  I  remember, 
told  his  young  men  that  the  first  requisite  of  true 
hard  reading  was  that  they  should  take  good  care  of 
the  third  mile-stone  out  of  Cambridge,  walking  out 
every  day,  going  round  it,  and  making  sure  that  no 
one  had  carried  it  away.  No  one  can  prescribe  just 
what  another  ought  to  do,  I  had  much,  good  advice 
given  me  gratuitously  when  I  was  doing  the  full 
work  of  a  teacher,  and  the  full  work  of  a  student, 
when  the  only  reply  'I  could  have  made  must  have, 
been,  Ifecessitas  non  hdbet  legem.  But,  so  far  as  it 
is  possible,  let  nature  alone,  and  reserve  your  pliysical 
energies  for  the  time  when  you  will  be  expected  to 
be  always  at  home  to  receive  callers,  and  alM'ays 
abroad  among  your  people,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
produce  sermons,  addresses,  speeches,  lectures,  and 
"  remarks,"  not  to  say  articles,  as  birds  do  their 
songs. 

A  minister  ought  to  be  a  well-educated  man,  in 


Alf  ED  UCA  TED  MAN. '  83 

those  branches  of  huniiXii  learning  that  are  not  pro- 
fessional, or  rather,  that  are  comnion  to  all  the  pro- 
fessions. The  reasons  are  obvious.  A  man  may  be 
spiritual  and  theologically  well-instructed,  whose 
orthography  varies  from  the  popular  standard,  whose 
grammar  is  uncertain,  and  whose  reading  in  profane 
history  goes  little  farther  back  than  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.  But  the  mass  of  mankind  will 
doubt  the  capacity  of  a  teacher  in  religious  things, 
who  is  conspicuously  deficient  in  common  education. 
Have  you  noticed  that  our  Lord,  lowly  as  was  His 
home  in  ITazareth,  is  never  criticised  for  lack  of  such 
propriety,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  his  knowledge 
of  "  letters  "  *  excited  the  amazement  of  his  hearers  ? 
The  prejudices  against  God's  message  are  already  so 
many  that  we  ought  to  do  nothing  to  justify  or  in- 
crease them,  to  omit  nothing  that  we  can  do  for  their 
conquest.  Even  the  writing  of  a  good  hand  is  not 
a  despicable  accomplishment,  Gentlemen,  for  many 
will  form  an  estimate  of  your  taste,  culture,  and  edu- 
cation, from  your  letter,  before  they  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  learn  the  solid  qualities  of  your  heads  and 
hearts. 

*  John  vii.  15. 


84:  INTELLIGENCE  REQUIRED. 

It  does  "not  at  all  follow  becanso  a  minister  does 
not  parade  learning  in  the  pulpit  that  he  is  with- 
out occasion  to  use  it.  The  mass  of  the  people 
have  a  good  education  "within  reach,  and  many- 
avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity.  All  the  ques- 
tions of  the  day  are  discussed  in  the  popular 
magazines,  newspapers,  and  serials.  Multitudes-  get 
that  little,  dangerous  knowledge  which  enables 
them  to  ask  questions.  IS^one  are  held  back  by 
veneration.  Reverence  for  institutions  or  for  tra- 
ditions does  not  restrain.  om\  young  people  from 
bold  inquiry.  We  must  be  so  far  abreast. of  the 
current  of  general  thought  and  literature  as  to  be 
able  to  answer  intelligently,  and  with  discrimina- 
tion. There  is  an  intercourse  with  capable  and 
intelligent  men  to  which  we  are  called,  and  from 
which  we  should  never  shrink-^it  is  an  oppor- 
tunity for  usefulness — in  Boards,  Committees,  and 
the  great  work  of.  education,  and  in  which  all 
the  acquirements  we  have  can  be  utilized.  A  min- 
ister conspicuously  deficient  in  intelligence,  how- 
ever devoted  he  may  be,  would  soon  lose  his 
legitimate  influence.  He  would  be  spoken  of  as 
a  good   creature,  or  as   they  say  in    Scotland—"  a 


CONFIDENCE  COMMANDED.  85 

g-ood  body."  It  is  always  Ti  loss  to  the  cause 
of  religion  to  create  the  impression  that  it  only 
gets  hold  of  the  weaklings.  It  is  always  a  gain, 
where  it  is  seen  that  a  man  can  be  at  once  strong 
in  common  sense,  vigorons  in  mind,  well-informed, 
a  king  among  men,  fitted  to  rule  by  force  of  mind 
and  weight  of  character,  and  at  the  same  time 
habitually  bowing  in  lowliness  before  the  cross 
of  the  Lord  Jesns.  God  forbid  that  ever  the 
Protestant  clergy  should  come  to  be  what  the 
priests-  of  Eomanism  and  of  the  Greek  Church 
in  too  many  instances  have  become,  in  mental 
training,  and  capacity .  for  affairs,  "  the  lowest  of 
the  people."  We  are  for  teaching  and  preaching. 
It  is  to  be  remembered  that  a  quotation  from  the 
Bible  will  not  always  be  an  answer.  It  will  some- 
times be  a  jpetitio  princi/pii.  You  will  be  told 
there  are  previous  questions:  how  do  we  know 
yours  to  be  the  meaning,  and  how  do  we  know 
it  to   be  a  revela^tion  ? 

It  is  commonly  believed  that  for  the  purposes  of 
composition,  mastery  of  our  English  tongue,  and 
cultivation  of  taste,  a  knowledge  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  classics  is  essential,  tlie  word  "  classics"  being 


86  CLASSICS  FOR  CLERCYMEN. 

commonly  limited  to  the  Pagan  writers.  In  this 
free  atmosphere  it  may  be  permitted  me  to  say — 
without  being  roasted  as  a  literary  heretic — that  we 
have  possibly  overrated  this  department  of  educa- 
tion, and  that  the  suggestions  that  come  to  boys  in 
the  reading  of  Ovid,  Lucian,  Horace,  and  Sophocles, 
do  more  evil  than  is  commonly  thought* — evil 
enough  to  counterbalance  the  intellectual  gain.  But 
there  are  other  classics  than  the  heathen ;  and  it 
would  be  an  omen  of  good  if  candidates  for  the 
ministry  at  least  took  Eusebius,  TertuUian,  and  John 
Chrysostom,  and  others  of  a  noble  band,  to  whom  we 


*  Tlie  writer  does  not  allude  mainly  to  impure  associations, 
but  to  the  mythological  suggestions.  How  natural  to  a  reflecting 
boy — possibly  not  an  adept  in  the  evidences  of  Christianity — to 
say  to  himself,  "  As  sincerely  as  we  believe  in  our  religion,  these 
cultivated-  men  believed  in  this  legendary  dreaming.  So  coming 
races  may  look  back  on  our  superstition."  It. is  no  answer  to  say 
that  sooner  or  later  he  must  know  this  fact.  Here  he  does  more 
than  know  it.  His  mind  is  held  down  to  it  for  the  most  impres- 
sible years  of  his  life,  and  the  years  in  which  reason  and  con- 
science are  needed  for  restraint  and  guidance.  The  writer 
declares  what  he  knows  when  saying  that  mischief  is  often 
done  here.  Intelligent  Bible-teaching  ought  to  be  given  con- 
currently with  more  than  common  earnestness. 


THE  LANGUAGES  OF  SCRIPTURE.  87 

of  tli'e  reformed  free  churches  have  given  none  too 
much  attention.* 

There  have  been  able  and  most  successful  min- 
isters with  "  small  Latin  and  less  Greek ; "  but  that 
is  no  reason  for  ministers  missing  the  knowledge — 
when  it  is  accessible — that  would  enable  them  readily 
to  consult  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  originals,  under- 
stand the  point  of  a  critical  exegesis,  and  appreciate 
"Winer's  Kew  Testament  Grammar,  or  Trench's 
Synonyms.  We  say  readily :  one  hears  the  Hebrew 
Bible  read  by  theological  students  with  a  slow 
deliberateness  that  is  not  all  born  of  i*everence  for 
the  sacred  text,  and  which  suggests  that  (as  we  soon 
cease  to  do  what  we  do  with  difficulty)  the  after 
references  to  the  book  will  not  be  frequent  or 
enthusiastic.  Men  who  have  only  skimmed  the 
school-books,  or  been  squeezed  through,  ought  not  to 


*  The  experiment  now  in  progress  in  Lafayette  College,  at  tlie 
cost  of  Mr.  Benjamin  Douglass,  witlx  the  enlightened  co-opera- 
tion of  Professors  March,  Owen,  and  Ballard,  is  not  only  full  of 
interest,  but  full  of  hope,  on  other  grounds  than  those  indicated 
in  the  text.  We  have  nothing  to  lose  by  the  raising  of  the 
question,  Wliose  are  tlie  Fathers  ?  (See  an  admirable  volume 
with  this  title— London  :  Longmans,  Green  &  Co. — by  the  Rev. 
John  Harrison,  in  review  of  the  claims  of  the  Anglo-Catholics.) 


88  BO  NOT  RATIONALIZE. 

count  their  present  condition  a  finality.  To  "carry 
on  one's  own  reading  will  be  a  valuable  means  of 
culture,  an  agreeable  change  of  work,  and  will 
secure  a  permanent  mental  possession. 

For,  remember,  that  the  great  business  of  your  life 
is  to  be  the  exegesis  of  the  holy  Word.  You  may 
not  call  it  by  that  name  to  the  people :  call  it 
opening  up  the  Scriptures,  reasoning  out  of  them, 
anything  you  will,  only  provided  you  have  the 
thing.  To  know,  with  the  aid  of  grammar,  dic- 
tionary, collation,  and  examination  of  the  argument, 
what  the  Spirit  of  God  intended  to  convey  in  a 
passage,  is  a  first  requisite  to  honest,  faithful,  and 
efifective  preaching.  With  all  your  gettings,  get  the 
capacity  to  do  that.  It  is  even  more  important  to 
see  it,  and  know  it,  and  be  able  to  state  it,  than  to  vin- 
dicate it  and  show  that  it. is  just  as  it  ought  to  be. 
The  truth  is,  there  is  a  way  of  rationalizing  the 
Gospel,  without  being  the  least  Germanized.,  which 
.  does  not  help,  but  hinder.  We  enunciate  a  truth  as 
reported  in  the  Word,  and  proceed  in  a  strain  which, 
reduced  to  plain  statement,  would  run  thus  :  "  Now, 
brethren,  the  Lord  says  the  wages  of  sin  is  death, 
and   the  gift  of    God  is  eternal  life.     I  shall  now 


PRE  A  CH,  NOT  ARG  UE.  89 

proceed  to  sliow  yon  g-ood  and  sufficient  reasons  wliy 
lie  slionld  say  so,"  and  we  proceed  with  our  argu- 
ment. The  solemn  assertions  on  tlie  Lord's  au- 
thority, if  the  people  understood  them,  were  proof. 
But  we  proceed  with  our  argumentation,  which  may 
possibly  be  less  cogent,  or  less  clear,  or  less  interest- 
ing tlian  is  desirable.  The  weakness  or  obscurity  of 
our  demonstration  comes  to  be  connected  in  the 
memory  of  the  hearers  with  the  propositions  in- 
volved;  and  if  they  are  received  finally,  it  is  not 
because  the  Lord  has  said  so,  but  because  we  have 
established  His  right  to  say  them. 

Gentlemen,  we  are  heralds,  rather  than  logicians. 
We  announce  the  Lord's  will ;  many  truths  of  the 
Word  we  may  fearlessly  declare  without  waiting  to 
argue.  They  will  do  their  work.  Some  of  them 
instantly  connect  themselves  with  convictions  or 
demands  in  the  human  soul,  and  fit  them  as  the  key 
fits  the  lock.  Some  of  them  can  afford  to  await 
proof.  Some  of  them  get  their  proof  as  other 
Scriptures  are  explained,  as  the  stones  hold  one 
another  in  the  arch.  But  to  be  able  to  echo  the 
triumphant  and  authoritative  utterances  of  God's 
word,  we  must  know  them.     Here  is  "  ample  scope 


90  FRUITFUL  FIELDS. 

and  verge  enough  "  for  our  energies.  How  many 
books  have  been  written  on  Genesis?  Is  it  ex- 
hausted yet  ?  Wh}^  the  last  work  on  it,  by  Dr. 
Lange,  with  the  additions  of  Dr.  Taylor  Lewis,  is 
far  the  best.  But  is  the  book  exhausted?  On 
the  contrary,  it  never  enlisted  the  study  of  so 
manj^  as  at  this  moment.  For  how  many  volumes 
have  the  Psalms  furnished  a  basis  ?  Is  the  mine 
worked  out?  Who  is  to  penetrate  the  prophecies 
of  Ezekiel,  Daniel,  Jeremiah,  and  the  rest  of  the 
prophets,  continents  which  enthusiastic  devotion  has 
yet  only  surveyed,  with  less  accuracy  than  the 
Livingstones  and  Bakers  have  attained  in  Central 
Africa.  Yet  generations  of  saints  will  yet  feed  in 
these  desolate  and  waste  places,  as  they  now  seem  to 
many.  Therefore,  with  all  2:>ossible  urgency  and 
solicitude  we  beg  yon,  as  candidates  for  the  ministry, 
get  yourselves  ready  for  the  exegetical  study  of  the 
holy  oracles.  Elementary  Biblical  criticism  is  too 
often  a  dnll  study.  I  remember  when  the  Hebrew 
Professor,  who  had  been  helping  our  slow  and 
stumbling  feet  through  Daniel,  announced  to  the 
class  that  "  our  next  hour  introduced  us  to  the 
Chaldee,"  my  nearest  neighbor  drew  a  long  breath. 


UNJUST  ESTIMATES.  91 

and  said,  "I  did  my  honest  best  with  the  Hebrew : * 
now  I  ffive  np  !  "  There  must  be  no  giving  np 
liere  :  a  year's  despondent  inactivity  here  means  com- 
parative feebleness  for  a  life-time. 

It  is  the  fashion  to  decry  theology  in  onr  time. 
The  opponents  of  that  noble  science  mean  no  harm. 
They  only  do  not  understand.  What  they  cannot  bear 
is  metaphysical  or  speculative  hair-splitting,  on  the  one 
hand,  or  on  the  other  sharp-cut,  clear  statement  and 
defense  of  truths  they  do  not  like.  Let  a  man  put 
his  theology  into  attractive  forms,  and  they  will 
tolerate  it;  or  let  their  own  views  be  urged  forcibly 
by  a  trained  dialectician,  and  they  make  no  objection. 
We  can  no  more  have  exact  religious  thinking  with- 
out theology,  than  exact  mensuration  or  astronomy 
without  mathematics,  or  exact  iron-making  without 
chemistry.  The  puddlers  at  Pittsburgh  would  prob- 
ably think  a  technical  disquisition  on  the  methods  of 

*  The  writer  notes  with  pleasure  thcat  the  class-book  in  Great 
Britain  was  then  Elias  Riggs'  Manual  of  the  Chaldee  Lan- 
guage, with  an  introduction  by  Moses  Stuart,  of  Andover,  whose 
services  to  the  cause  of  Bible  Exegesis  are  as  heartily  appre- 
ciated in  Great  Britain  as  here.  The  volumes  were  imported 
from  New  York — an  early  installment  of  much  literary  property 
now  moving  eastward. 


92  TEACH  THE  PEOPLE. 

desulpliurizing  iron  ore  a  tedious  business  ;  but  some 
one  must  master  the  ebemistry  of  ii'on  and  steel  mak- 
ing, or  it  will  not  go  forward.  Let  there  come  along 
an  earnest,  plain-sjjoken,  clear-brained  man,  who  can 
put  the  technical  chemistry  into  their  own  tongue, 
and  illustrate  it  by  effective  experiment  before  their 
eyes,  and  he  will  interest  any  body  of  iron  workmen 
in  America,  A  plain  man  told  Dr.  Dabney  that  the 
reason  John  Randolph  was  so  appreciated  by  the 
common  people  was,  "  Because  Mr.  Randolph  was  so 
instructive  ;  he  taught  the  people  so  much  which 
they  had  not  known  before."  *  So  it  will  always  be. 
Men  object  to  what  they  do  not  understand  or  do  not 
like  in  theology.  Be  you  diligent,  patient  students 
of  it,  that  you  may  put  its  exact  truth  in  intelligible 
forms,  and  teach  the  people  knowledge,  f 

While  theology,  as  a  whole,  ought  to  be  studied 
with  care  and  thoroughness,  there  are  ]3ortions  of  the 
"  Body  of  Divinity"  that  deserve  special  attention, 
because  there  is  at  the  present  time  more  than  usual 
reference  to  them.     While  deprecating,  in  a  former 

*  Sacred  Bhetoria,  by  Eobert  L.  Dabney,  D.D.,  a  valuable  work, 
to  wMcb  we  shall  have  occasion  again  to  refer, 
f  Ecc.  sii.  9. 


BESULTS,  NOT  PB0CESSE8.  93 

lecture,  the  pulpit  refutation  of  scientific  imputations 
formally  or  informally  cast  on  the  Bible,  it  was  not 
intended  that  an  educated  ministrj  should  disregard 
them,  .It  was  only  meant  that-  formal  and  specific 
treatment  in  the  pulpit  is  not  usually  to  edification. 
But  for  the  peace  of  his  own  mind,  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  perfect  confidence  in  his  own  cause,  and  for 
the  purpose  of  satisfying  individual  inquirers,  a 
minister  should  be  thoronghly  conversant  with  the 
evidences  of  Christianity.  It  is  one  thing  for  a 
medical  man  to  have  mastered  chemistry  and  pathol- 
ogy ;  it  is  another  for  him  to  pour  out  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  same  on  every  patient,  and  to  spend  his 
time  in  demonstrating  the  impudent  falsehood  of 
every  pretender  to  "  miraculous  cures,"  whose  cir- 
culars are  sent  to  his  patients.*  It  is  one  thing  for 
a  lawyer  to  be  well-ihformed  in  the  principles  and 
rules  of  law ;  it  is  another  altogether  to  marshal  his 
erudition  for  every  conviction  in  petty  larceny.  So 
while  we   do  not   recommend   the   employment   of 

*  Any  one  who  takes  the  trouble  to  inquire,  will  be  amazed  to 
find  from  the  booksellers  to  what  a  large  extent  the ' '  scientists  " 
owe  a  market  for  their  books  to  the  clergy,  who  laudably  and 
naturally  desire  to  see  what  can  be  said  against  the  truth. 


94  APPROACHING  CONTROVERSY. 

pulpit-time  in  the  overthrow  of  every  caviller,  we  do 
urge  the  importance  of  mastering  the  evidences  of 
Christianity. 

There  is  some  need,  also,  for  more  attention  to  the 
Romish  controversy  than  has  hitherto  been  given. 
It  includes  the  question  of  questions  in  Europe  at 
this  moment.  But  it  is  only  a  small  and  relatively 
unimportant  part  of  the  argument  that  is  now  enlist- 
ing alike  divines  and  statesmen.  Long  before  this 
inquiry  into  the  contradictory  obligations  of  Roman 
Catholics  in  Protestant  countries  arose,  there  has 
been,  and  long  after  it  has  lost  its  interest,  there  will 
be,  the  deeper,  wider,  and  farther-reaching  question 
of  salvation  by  grace,  or  salvation  by  something  else. 
Americans  have  been  indifferent  to  these  issues  from' 
strong  confidence  in  their  institutions,  and  from  a 
certain  contempt  for  ^Romanisfn,  natural  enough  in 
the  circumstances.  This  continent  has  not  yet  had  a 
strong  and  capable  expositor  of  Romish  views.  The 
system  has  been  poorly  represented,  timid,  and  rather 
asking  toleration  than  inlluence.  But  it  has  passed 
out  of  that  stage.  It  is  capable  of  adapting  itself  to 
all  governments  and  all  conditions  of  society.  It  can 
use  the  resources  of  the  poor ;  it  can,  like  the  priests 


A  CORRECTED  ESTIMATE.  95 

of  Baal,  in  Aliab's  time,  feed  at  the  table  of  the  State. 
That  we  need  not  pay  much  attention  to  it  becansc 
it  will  never  dominate  this  Republic  is  an  egregious 
mistake.  A  long  way  on  this  side  of  ruling  it 
may  obstruct,  retard,  and  injure.  Poising  itself  be- 
tween two  great  parties  in  the  State,  and  unfettered 
by  any  but  its  religious  pledges,  it  can  exact  and 
secure  concessions  in  its  own  interests,  and  to  the 
damage  of  the  Rejiublic. 

To  regard  it  as  contemptible  as  a  system  of  argu- 
ment and  religious  belief,  is  an  insult  to  the  human 
understanding.  That  fabric  on  which  for  more  than 
a  millennium  the  mind  of  Europe  was  occujjied, 
strengthening  what  was  weak,  defending  what  was 
exposed,  and  making  it  strong,  compact,  and  impos- 
ing, is  not  a  disorderly  pile  of  loose  stones  and  rotten  ' 
timbers.  As  a  system,  it  is  concatenated,  logical, 
and,  if  you  admit  a  few  of  its  fundamental  principles, 
its  conclusions  are  irresistible.  If  I  put  the  statement 
strongly  it  is  because  I  feel  earnestly  on  the  subject, 
when  saying  that  many  admirable  Protestant  iiiin- 
isters  would  find  themselves  embarrassed  in  discus- 
sioli  with  a  well-educated  member  of  the  "  Society  of 
Jesus."    It  is  thought,  indeed,  illiberal  to  have  strong 


96  VALUE  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

convictions  on  a  topic  of  this  nature;  but  it  is  one 
thing  to  afford  the  fullest  rights  to  everj  citizen,  and 
the  amplest  consideration  to  his  conscientious  con- 
victions :  it  is  another  to  be  blind  to  the  tenets  and 
tendencies  of  a  system  which  is,  and  cannot  help 
being,  a  political  corporation  hardly  less  than  a 
religion,  and  which  has  already  enough  of 
organization  and  force  to  make  it  the  interest  of 
politicians  in  our  great  centers  to  secure  its  pat- 
ronage.* 

This  topic  may  be  studied  in  the  department  of 
Theology,  or  in  that  of  Church  History — to  which, 
if  I  may  judge  from  my  own  recollections,  a  young 
minister  will  find  himself  under  great  obligations. 
Much,  of  course,  depends  on  the  grouping  of  themes 
and  the  special  aptitudes  of  both  teachers  and 
learners.  In  my  own  case,  I  studied  Theology  under 
a  professor  who  was  not  exact,  or  profound,  but  who 


*  It  is  not  only  in  the  action  of  Romanism  on  tlie  public 
schools  that  there  is  .cause  for  anxiety.  In  many  parts  of  the 
country,  under  most  mistaken  ideas,  Protestant  parents  intrust 
their  children,  particularly  daughters,  to  Roman  Catholic  edu- 
cators. The  education  is  second-rate,. but  it  is  showy;  and  the 
influence  is  almost  uniformly  lui-Protestant. 


KNO  W  TO  UR  BIBLES.  9  7 

had  many  of  the  elements  of  a  great  and  nohlc  man, 
and  who  managed  to  give  the  impression  that  all 
truth  was  revealed  for  adequate  and  appropriate 
purposes,  that  it  was  godlike  to  love  it,  to  live  it  out, 
and  to  employ  it  for  the  enlightenment  of  the  race, 
and  that  it  was  unspeakably  mean  to  feel  that  we 
had  nothing  more  to  do  about  it,  after  we  had 
secured  for  our  individual  selves  a  hope  of  rest  and 
peace.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  department  of 
church  history,  it  seems  to  me,  there  was  shown  to 
me  the  difference  in  principles  at  the  points  where 
they  strike  human  conscience,  and  affect  human, 
interests,  and  there  was  laid  in  the  mind  the  solid 
conviction  that  in  the  final  issue  even  here,  life,  for 
the  man,  or  the  institution,  is  indissolubly  linked  with 
"  submission  to  the  father  of  spirits."  * 

You  may  perhaps  be  surprised  when  I  urge  as 
another  element  in  preparation  for  the  work  of 
preaching  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  English 


*  Heb.  xii.  9.  It  afforda  me  pleasure  to  mention  that  tlie  able 
Professor,  here  alluded  to,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Killen,  of  Belfast, 
Ireland,  is  still  rendering  effective  service  both  in  his  chair,  and 
by  such  works  as  The  Ancient  Church,  The  Church  of  the  First 
Three  Centuries,  etc. 
5 


98  .    ^PT  qUOTATIOK 

Bible.  Though  it  is  under  revision,  the  changes  in 
it  will  not  materially  affect  its  phraseology ;  and 
though  we  have  often  to  advert  to  the  original  for 
exact  shades  of  meaning,  to  the  mass  of  our  hearers 
the  English  Bible  is,  and  deserves  to  be,  the  standard 
of  appeal.  To  be  familiar  with  it  so  as  to  quote  it 
from  memory,  with  point  and  accuracy,  is  of  no 
trifling  importance.  Even  in  point  of  language  and 
style,  it  represents  one  of  the  best  periods  of  English 
literature.  It  is  often  singularly  grand  in  its  sim- 
plicity, and  singularly  terse  and  emphatic  in  its 
nervous  Saxon.  A  verse  rightly  put  and  rightly 
repeated,  will  often  fix  a  truth  better  than  a  whole 
sermon.  I  once  heard  M.  Merle  D' Aubigno  deliver 
a  long,  elaborate,  and  very  able  discourse,  at  the 
opening  of  a  Theological  Seminary  in  Great  Britain, 
I  do  not  remember  a  single  idea  in  it  all  except  one, 
which  he  stated  and  enforced  with  the  question  from 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews :  "  We  have  had  fathers 
of  our  flesh  which  corrected  us  and  we  gave  them 
reverence :  shall  we  not  much  rather  be  in  subjec- 
tion to  the  father  of  spirits  and  live  ?  "  How  often 
a  man  will  tell  the  minister  he  heard  him  preach  so 
many   years    ago,  ingenuously  adding,    "I    do    not 


BIBLE  LANGUAGE  BEST.  99 

remember  the  sermon,  but  I  can  tell  you  the  text." 
Plow  often  a  solemn  and  awful  truth  can  be  uttered 
in  the  impressive  phraseology  of  the  Scripture,  which 
it  would  seem  harsh  or  arrogant  to  put  in  our  own — - 
"  The  wicked  is  driven  away  in  his  wickedness ;  " 
"  It  is  a  fearful  tiling  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
living  God  ;  "  "  How  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect 
so  great  salvation  ? "  "  They  shall  utterly  perish  in 
their  own  corruption."  How  frequently  a  sin  is 
indicated  in  a  phrase  which  all  men  understand, 
which  if  we  try  to  render  in  our  roundabout 
conventionalisms,  we  dilute  the  meaning,  perhaps 
mislead  altogether.  How  often  the  tenderest  pathos 
is  brought  to  bear  without  the  least  pomp  of  words, 
or  elaborate  painting :  "  As  a  father  pitieth  his 
children;"  "  As  one  whom  his  mother  comfoiteth  ; " 
Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  why  will  ye  die  ? "  How  much 
rest  and  strength  one  comes  to  associate  with  its 
report  of  benedictions  in  Psalms  and  sermons,  of 
speeches  and  arguments,  through  which  is  breathed 
the  tone  of  calm  and  confident  assurance :  "  Blessed 
are  the  pure  in  heart:  for  they  shall  see  God ; "  ''I 
know  whom  I  have  believed  ;  "  "  Beloved,  now  .are 
we  the  sons  of  God."     '-  There  reraaineth,  therefore,  a 


100  SKILL  IN  TEACHINa. 

rest  for  the  people  of  God."  Gentlemen,  if  you 
would  speak  to  the  conscience  and  heart  of  your 
fellow-men,  if  you  would  subsidize  all  their  old 
memories,  and  enlist  all  their  sacred  associations 
on  the  side  of  your  cause  and  your  Master,  have 
thorough  and  easy  possession  of  your  English 
Bible. 

"And  how,  one  asks, is  this  to  be  gained?"  Some 
have  been  at  pains  to  memorize  it.  There  is  a  more 
excellent  way.  Read  it  for  your  own  devotional 
purposes  so  much,  enter  into  the  spirit  of  it  so 
deeply,  that  you  shall  have  it  literally  "  by  heart." 
Men  of  taste,  in  thorough  appreciation  of  Horace, 
Cicero,  Shakespeare,  Tennyson,  Longfellow,  can 
quote  them  accm'ately  and  at  length.  But  what 
are  these  great  masters  to  any  man,  in  comparison 
with  that  which  the  Bible  is  to  us  as  Ministers  of 
Jesus  Christ  ? 

I  would  almost  venture  to  put  among  the  elements 
of  preparation  for  preaching  some  little  experience 
in  teaching.  A  superficial  person  is  apt  to  suppose 
that  to  tell  a  thing  once  is  sufficient  for  all  purposes. 
A  thoughtful  person  knows  the  contrary,  knows  that 
in  the   common   affairs  of  life  we  often  repeat  and 


LEARN  FROM  THE  LA  WYEIiS.  101 

reiterate  tlie  instructions  we  wish  to  be  remembered 
and  acted  upon.  So  a  thoughtful  teacher  soon  linds; 
and  one  of  the  main  objects  of  the  preacher  is  to 
teach.  The  teacher  varies  his  phraseology,  puts  his 
points  variously,  asks  questions,  illustrates,  suggests, 
employs  shifts  and  expedients  to  insinuate  defiuite 
ideas  into  the  mind.  A  brilliant  and  successful 
advocate  once  told  me  that  it  was  idle  to  suppose  that 
one  simple  didactic  statement  would  reach  the 
understanding  of  the  men  on  a  jury.  "  I  never 
assume  anything  of  the  sort,"  said  he ;  "I  go  over 
the  same  ground  again  and  again,  not  always  in  ap- 
pearance, varying  the  language  and  mode  of  present- 
ing the  idea,  until  no  more  can  be  said  about  it." 
And  we  must  remember  that  twelve  jurymen,  on 
oath  to  decide  justly,  may  be  supposed  to  have  their 
faculties  on  a  tenser  strain,  and  their  intelligence 
higher  than  the  average  of  an  ordinary  mixed  con- 
gregation. Men  find  this  out  practically  in  teaching; 
and  so  not  only  because  a  minister  is  all  the  better 
for  having  some  practical  knowledge  of  teaching — 
for  Sabbath-school  and  other  purj)oses — but  because 
teaching  is  so  essential  an  element  in  good  preaching, 
a  little    experience    in    practical    instruction   is  to 


102  LEARN  TO  BE  CONTENT. 

a   candidate   for  the  iniuistry   a   substantial   advan- 
tage. 

I^or  would  I  omit  from  the  list  of  elements  of 
preparation  some  endurance  of  the  res  angusta  domi: 
a  little  personal  conflict  with  straitened  circum- 
stances. It  is  a  good  thing  to  have  learned  the  value 
of  money :  to  have  acquired  the  power  of  sympathy 
with  those  who  have  it  not-: 

"  Non  ignara  onali,  miseris  succurrere  disco :  " 
to  be  independent  of  luxuries :  to  enjoy  looking  at 
tlie  store-windows  of  Broadway  and  think  how  much 
is  there  that  you  can  do  without :  to  be  poor,  and  yet 
not  tempted  to  mean  and  sordid  devices  :  and  to  be 
able  to  preserve  self-respect  when  money  is  a  rapidly- 
diminishing  quantity.  Gentlemen,  I  need  not  hide 
from  you  that  ministers,  as  a  rule,  are  not  rich. 
They  are  not  so  much  below  other  professions,  place 
for  place,  as  is  sometimes  alleged  ;  but  they  have 
fewer  remedies  than  their  ill-paid  fellow-laborers  in 
law  or  medicine.  Yet,  they  are  often  obliged  to 
study  well  the  buying  power  of  dollars :  and  they 
are  none  the  worse  for  it  as  men  and  as  ministers. 
Tlie  men  in  the  ministry  who  are  rich  by  inheritance, 
or  by  felicitous  arrangements,  need  special  grace  to 


A  IfAN'S  REAL  LIFE.  103 

keep  them  "  up  to  pitch  "  in  effort.  They  are  specially 
liable  to  sore  throat,  weak  bronchial  tubes,  delicate 
chests,  and  nervous  affections,  that  require  rest, 
travel,  and  variety  of  scene.  The  difficulties  of 
narrow  means  liave  not  "  repressed  the  noble  rage  " 
of  all  ministers.  One  of  the  ablest  writers  yet  pro- 
duced by  the  Baptist  or  any  other  denomination,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Carson,  lived  in  a  thatched  farm-house,  and 
often  wrote,  I  am  assured  by  one  who  had  means  of 
knowing,  at  the  kitchen  fire,  rocking  his  child's  cradle 
with  his  foot.  Many  young  ministers  are  poor  men, 
but  that  is  no  ]"eason,  Gentlemen,  why  you  should  be 
poor  ministers.  "  A  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the 
abundance  of  the  things  he  possesseth."  His  bodily 
life  docs  not — his  intellectual  does  not— his  moral 
does  not — his  ministerial  does  not — ^liis  spiritual  life 
does  not.  He  may  be  "  poor,  yet  possessing  all 
things." 

Only  one  thing  more  I  feel  constrained  to  speci- 
fy in  this  Lecture,  without  at  all  claiming  to  have 
included  all  the  elements  of  preparation,  namely, 
habits  of  personal  devotion.  Lately  I  saw  the 
statement  in  one  of  the  religious  newspapers,  that 
a  minister  was-  kept   so  long  writing  sermons  that 


104  PERSONAL  BEVOUTNESS. 

he  had  no  thiie  to  study  his  Bible!  ISTo  man 
studies  well,  here,  who  does  not  pray  well,  any 
more    than   in    Luther's    time.* 

Whea  I  was  passing  through  my  preparatory 
classes,  I  had  the  advantage  of  association  with  a 
group  of  eleven  or  twelve  young  men,  who  met 
once  a  week  for  the  private  study  of  the  Bible 
and  prayer.  It  was  in  our  own  rooms.  We  were 
friends,  in  perfect  mutual  confidence,  not  afraid 
of  one  another,  and  yet  our  intercourse  was  puri- 
fied, and  elevated  by  our  common  pursuit  and 
our  united  prayers.  I  was  one  of  the  youngest 
and   the   least   able   to   make  a  contribution  to  the 


*  The  following  extract  is  from  a  very  thoughtful  article  in  the 
Interior  of  Jan.  7,  on  "  the  Bible  in  Church." 

"  What  prevents  our  ministers  from  adopting,  more  generally 
than  they  do,  the  practice  of  expository  preaching?  It  is  the 
most  profitable,  they  will  all  say.  They  would  much  prefer  it. 
What  is  in  the  way  ?  The  people  look  for  a  '  regular  sermon.' 
Are  we,  then,  under  '  bondage  '  after  all  ?  A  minister  in  an 
important  charge  once  told  us  that  his  time  was  so  taken  up  in 
■  writing  sermons  tliat  he  actually  had  no  time  to  study  the  Word 
of  God.  That  was  a  strong  statement,  but  we  can  readily  be- 
lieve that  if  a  minister  had  the  idea  that  two  elaborately  pre- 
pared 'discourses'  were  expected  from  him  every  week,  he 
would  subordinate  everything  to  the  attainment  of  that  end." 


CnmSTIAN  FELLOWSmP.  105 

common  stock  ;  but  I  think  I  conld  truly  say, 
that  no  one  set  of  lectures  did  so  much  as  these 
M'eekly  meetings  to  prepare  me  for  being  a  pas- 
tor. The  intellectual  quickening  was  the  least 
element  in  the  preparartion.  1  got  an  idea  of  the 
truest  of  all  fellowship — fellowship  in  Christ.  I 
learnt  _  how  love  to  the  Master  and  love  to  saints 
go  hand  in  hand,  each  strengthening  the  other. 
I  learnt  that  a  man  does  good  to  his  people  when 
he  has  come  to  count  them  a  circle  of  his  friends, 
and  spontaneously — not  officially — to  carry  them  on 
his   heart. 

"When  we  parted,  each  to  go  on  his  way,  we 
agreed  on  a  time — the  hour  of  our  meeting — for 
remembering  one  another,  and  exchanged  lists  of 
names  and  addresses.  '  I  have  my  copy  still.  Of 
the  eleven,  two  are  in  heaven.  The  other  nine 
are  vigorous  evangelical  ministers.  It  is  twenty- 
six  years  since  we  parted.  I  do  not  doubt  they 
remember  me,  and  I  still  keep  that  "  sacred  tryst." 


LECTURE     V. 


PEEPAKING   A   SEEMON. 

It  may  seem  to  jou,  Gentlemen,  as  if  we  had  lin- 
gered unduly  among  preliminary  considerations,  and 
approached  with  needless  delays  the  immediate 
matter  of  sermonizing.  If  so,  please  set  it  down  to 
the  tendency  in  the  lecturer's  mind  to  desire  not 
only  clearness  in  a  subject,  but  clearness  all  the  way 
up  to  it.  Possibly,  if  you  recall  these  thoughts  after 
some  years,  your  judgment  wnll  justify  the  slow 
movement;  for  you  will  have  seen  that  in  the  end 
principles  determine  particulars,  and  that  men  will 
pray,  and  preach,  and  labor  generally  according  to 
their  conceptions  of  the  church's  business,  and  of 
their  own  place  as  ministers. 

The  priestly  theory,  for  example,  marks  the  Ro- 
man, the  Greek,  and  most  heathen  systems.  It 
shapes  the  labors  of  the  elerg}^  in  almost  every  parti- 
cular.   They  can  only  "officiate"  with  the  prescribed 


PRE  A  CIIERS—NO  T  PRIESTS.  107 

robes:  tliey  can  only  move  on  the  line  of  rubrics: 
tlie}^  succeed  in  the  degree  in  which  they  are  accepted 
as  official  representatives.  To  get  a  bit  of  brass  in 
the  form  of  a  cross  hung  round  the  neck  next  the 
skin,  and  out  of  all  men's  sight ;  to  "  christen  "  a  baby 
even  without  the  knowledge  or  approval  of  parents  ; 
to  anoint  a  man  even  though  he  is  incapable  of  re- 
sponding to  any  movement  secular  or  spiritual ;  to 
ffive  "Christian  burial" — whatever  that  exactlv 
means — to  the  dead,  who  in  life  would  have  •  given 
nothing  good  to  the  celebrant — these  are  admissible 
in  such  clerical  life.  Preaching  is  a  subordinate  duty 
to  preparing  for,  or  administering  sacraments. 

Take  the  .churches  as  a  whole,  and  classify  them, 
and  you  will  lind  that  as  the  priestly  idea,  or  the 
High  church  idea,  goes  up,  the  sermon  goes  down. 
In  Roman  Catholic  countries  there  is  little  preaching 
ex<3ept  in  Lent,  and  then  it  is  not  as  a  rule  by  the 
pastors,  but  by  itinerant  frjars,  whose  function  is 
preaching.  In  sojne  instances  their  preaching  is 
good  of  its  kind — in  some  remarkably  adapted  to 
popular  effect.  But,  as  a  rule,  it  does  not  admit  of, 
nor  receive  too  close  inspection.  The  preacher  in  a 
cathedral,  for  example,  is  raised  in  a  high  pulpit  j 


108  MECHANICAL  PREACHING. 

the  audience  is  not  seated ;  there  are  no  prelimiuaiy 
devotional  exercises  connected  with  the  sermon  ;  the 
preacher  enters  the  pulpit,  crosses  himself,  and 
commences,  "  In  the  name  of  the  Father,  tlie  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,"  proceeding  directly  with  his 
discourse,  tlie  most  effective  portions  of  which  are 
usually  sensuous  pictures  of  our  Lord's  sufferings, 
empliasized  frequently  by  reference  to  a  cross,  or 
crucifix  in  or  near  the  pulpit.*  I  have  seen  such  a 
preacher  exhibit,  in  tone  and  gesture,  all  the  indica- 
tions of  the  most  vehemeiit  feeling,  and  yet  with 
certain  peculiarities  of  face  whicli  led  me  to  retire,  so 
as  not  to  annoy  anybody,  and  look  at  him  with  an 
opera-glass,  and  to,  my  amazement  and  disgust,  his 

*  Tliere  is  a  strong  tendency  in  the  Roman  Catholic  system  to 
isolate  the  crucifixion,  and  so  represent  it  as  to  appeal  to  the 
mere  sensuous  feeling.  The  genius  of  Protestantism,  in  closer 
harmony  with  the  Bible,  leads  to  ample  exhibition  of  the  dig- 
nity of  the  Saviour's  Person,  and  to  connect  that,  not  so  much 
with  mere  physical  pain,  and  pathetic  recital  of  touching  details, 
as  with  the  fact  that  he  became  "  obedient  to  death"  in  such  a 
form  as  identified  Him  with  the  promised  seed  of  the  woman, 
and  the  substitute  of  sinners.  Romanism  has  a  high  place  for 
the  crucifix,  and  the  "  Son  of  Mary."  Protestantism  knows 
nothing  "  save  Jesus  Christ,  and  Him  crucified,"  (1  Cor.  3-2) — 
Jesus  Christ,  the  glorious  Person,  giving  value  and  power  to 
the  work,  "  Him  crucified." 


WITH  THE  UKDERSTANDING.  109 

countenance  did  not  betray  the  least  feeling.  He 
was  at  a  safe  elevation,  performing  his  rhetorical 
pantomime  in  a  purely  mechanical  way,  and  yet  not 
without  its  effect  on  a  very  illiterate  audience.  There 
is  not  only  more  good  preaching  in  Connecticut  than 
in  a  whole  Roman  Catholic  country  like  Spain  or 
Portugal,  but  there  is  not  in  one  of  these  so  much 
preaching,  good  or  bad,  as  in  one  of  our  States.  Prot- 
estantism has  produced,  by  its  proximity  and  rivalry, 
more  preaching  for  Roman  Catholics  in  America 
than  they  would  otherwise  obtain. 

Let  me  now  indicate  some  of  the  points  to  be  as- 
sured in  the  making  of  a  sermon;  the  immediate 
detiiils  every  man  must  fill  in  according  to  his  own 
aptitudes,  and  the  habits  of  mind  he  has  been  led  to 
form. 

1.  Be  sure  you  understand  the  subject  you  under- 
take to  present,  so  far  as  you  bring  it  to  the  attention 
of  the  people.  We  do  not  mean  that  you  know  all 
about  it,  for  there  are  many  themes  by  their  very 
nature  bounded  by  the  limits  of  religious  thought,  as 
the  Divine  nature  and  attributes,  the  future  of  the 
soul,  the  constitution  of  the  Person  of  the  Messiah, 
and  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  regenerat- 


110  AND  OF  THE  CL  0  UDS. 

ing.  What  we  mean,  is,  that  so  far  as  your  theme  is 
to  be  set  forth,  you  should  have  clear,  definite  ideas 
of  your  own,  not  half-thoughts,  but  thoughts,  not 
dim  and  nebulous  images  looming  through  haze 
and  mist,  but  distinct  conceptions  that  admit  of 
being  put  into  intelligible  language.  It  would  be 
awkward,  if  some  one  had  the  right  to  interrupt  a 
preacher  in  a  flowing  paragraph  of  graceful  verbiage, 
with  the  demand,  "  Pray,  tell  us  what  you  mean,"  if 
he  could  not  tell.  A  good  test  of  your-own  grasp 
of  the  subject  is  found  in  talking  it  over  with  some 
one,  if  below  your  own  intellectual  plane,  all  the 
better.  If  3'ou  cannot  explain  it,  and  vary  your 
phraseology,  and  put  it  colloquially,  it  is  not  likely 
to  be  of  much  value  in  the  pulpit.  You  may  imagine 
you  have  ideas,  when  you  have  only  words.  You 
may  deem  yourself  a  master  of  language,  when  it  is 
language  that  is  the  master,  and  you  the  slave.  If, 
captivated  perhaps  by  one  brilliant  suggestion,-  per- 
haps by  the  very  sound  of  the  words  in  a  text,  per- 
haps by  one  striking  application  of  a  passage,  you 
have  been  tempted  to  begin  a  sermon  on  it,  and  find 
you  do  not  have  clear,  consecutive  thought  about  it, 
lay  it  aside,  until  you  can  read,  study,  examine,  and 


'  02f  THE  PEOPLE'S  LEVEL.  m 

master  so  much  of  it  as  a  sermon  holds.  The  first 
requisite  to  teacliing  is  knowing. 

2.  Be  sure  your  theme  is  one  the  people  can  un- 
derstand. There  is  much  with  which  your  profes- 
sional education  has  familiarized  you  that  is  out  of 
their  depth.  They  have  no  ground  in  common  with 
you  in  certain  directions.  There  are  controversies 
metaphysical,  theological,  even  experimental,  into 
which  they  have  never  been  conducted,  where  your 
argumentations  would  be  to  them  as  algebraic  sym- 
bols to  one  who  never  learned  mathematics.  You 
are  writing  in  cipher  and  they  have  not  the  key. 
They  make  a  little  effort  to  understand,  fail,  sit 
down  in  despondency,  with  a  little  vexation  and 
irritation  of  mind,  where  you  ought  to  be  regarded 
by  them  with  complacency;  so  they  not  only  lose 
their  time,  but  they  are  ill-disposed  to  you  next  time 
you  preach,  and  have  so  far  formed  a  habit  of  inat- 
tention. 

It  is  not  meant  that  at  the  beginning  of  your  ser- 
mon the  people  understand  the  subject  as  well  as  you 
do.  If  they  did,  there  would  be  little  need  to  preach. 
It  is  meant  that  your  arguments,  appeals,  explana- 
tions are  such  as  thev  can  be  made  to  understand. 


112  IMPRESSIONS  REMEMBERED. 

The  consciousness  that  tliej  are  taking  in  your  ideas, 
and  being  carried  from  gTound  over  which  they  had 
been  before,  and  on  which  you  and  they  stood  in 
common  at  the  beginning,  into  entirely  new  ground, 
is  eminently  pleasing,  and  is  frequently  expressed 
by  "  interesting." 

Kor  is  it  meant  that  the  people  should  be  able  to 
reproduce  your  arguments  and  conclusions.  Often 
this  would  be  impossible.  But  your  sermon  is  not, 
therefore,  useless.  There  are  many  things  to  be 
pros^ed,  of  one  of  which  an  intelligent  hearer  would 
say,  "  I  could  not  give  the  steps  myself,  but  I  know 
it  can  be  proved.  I  heard,  our  pastor  on  it,  and  I 
know  he  satisfied  me."  Or  an  objection  is  to  be 
disposed  of,  and  a  candid  man  might  say,  "  I  know 
it  can  be  met,  for  I  heard  it  discussed,  and  it  Avas 
made  clear  to  me,  though  I  cannot  recall  the  answer  ; 
but  I  know  there  is  one." 

Let  a  gentleman  on  the  hustings  discuss  political 
issues  in  a  strain  of  unintelligible  abstractions,  and 
he  would  never  be  asked  for  a  second  SiDeech.  Let  a 
lawyer  address  a  village  jury  in  language  and  with 
considerations  fit  only  for  the  pages  of  Coke  upon 
Littleton,  and  he  would  have  few  cases.      And  let 


ADEQUATE  THEMES.  II3 

ministers  preach,  however  ablj  or  elegantly,  above 
the  comprehension  of  the  people,  and  their  general 
and  kindly  verdict  will  be  that  "  they  would  be 
admirable  professors,  but  — "  The  plan  of  Ezra 
and  his  friends  is  indispensable  to  success.*  "  So 
they  read  in  the  book  in  the  law  of  God  distinctly, 
and  gave  the  sense,  and  caused  them  to  understand 
the  reading."t 

3.  Be  sure  your  theme  is  great  enough  for  a  ser- 
mon. Remember  many  of  the  people  will  have  only 
one  or  two  such  in  the  week.     A  thing  may  be  tiMie, 

*  In  connection  witli  the  reading  of  God's  Word,  something 
needs  to  be  said.  There  is,  in  some  quarters,  a  growing  idea 
that  the  reading  is  to  be  done,  but  whether  intelligibly  or  not  ia 
of  little  moment.  This  is  offensive  to  good  taste  and  good 
sense,  and  is  vicious  in  principle.  It  puts  the  reading  of  Scrip- 
ture among  the  meve  preliminaries,  to  be  got  through  with,  as  if 
the  reader  said  :  This  is  secondary — a  mere  form  ;  presently  the 
real  thing  comes  ;  /  shall  be  heard.  How  can  a  man  truly 
magnify  God's  Word  in  his  sermon,  if  he  has  belittled  it  in  his 
reading  ten  minutes  before  1  It  was  my  misfortune  to  hear  the 
Scriptures  read  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  Rome,  so 
rapidly,  monotonously,  and  unintelligibly,  that  the  Pope  him- 
self could  not  have  complained  of  it  as  giving  the  Bible  to  the 
laity  in  the  vulgar  tongue.  It  was  clearly  an  opus  operatum 
performance.  It  had  to  be  AonQ  j)ro  forma.  Its  value  lay  not  in 
its  reaching  the  mind,  but  in  its  being  gone  through. 

\  Nell.  viii.  8. 


114  "  BITS  OF  8CENER  T. " 

Scriptural,'  intelligible  by  you  and  the  people,  but 
not  of  sucli  moment  as  to  entitle  it  to  be  the  burden 
of  a  sermon.  That  thorns  were  a  part  of  the  curse  on 
the  earth,  and  that  our  Lord  was  crowned  therewith, 
when  made  a  curse  for  us ;  that  a  rainbow  was  a 
covenant  sign  to  l^oah,  and  that  a  rainbow  was  round 
the  throne  in  the  apocalyptic  vision  ;  that  the  napkin 
and  linen  clothes  lay  in  order  in  the  empty  tomb, 
showing  that  our  Lord  did  not  steal  out  of  it  in 
unattended  and  nervous  precipitancy,  but  left  it  as  a 
man  leaves  his  house  where  he  is  free ;  that  Jesus 
spoke  to  the  young  girl  he  raised  up,  with  paternal 
tenderness,  Talitha  cumi,  as  we  shonld  say,  "  Darling, 
arise ;  "  that  Matthew  calls  himself  "  the  publican," 
and  that  the  other  Evangelists  omit  the  oflensive 
word  ;  these,  and  many  things  like  them,  are  in- 
teresting in  their  place.  They  are  "  bits  of  scenery  " 
such  as  artists  pick  up,  but  not  large  enough  to  make 
a  picture.  They  are  fine  as  illustrations  and  allusions, 
but  they  are  not  great  enough  for  sermon  themes. 
Take  the  great  outstanding  facts,  the  Alps  and  Andes 
in  the  Bible-world,  and  make  men  look  at  them. 
One  good  look  at  Mont  Blanc — why,  it  is  worth  a 
voj^age  to  Europe !     The  great  sculptors  of  Greece 


liEW  SERM02fS  Oy  OLD  TEXTS.  115 

did  not  lay  out  their  strength  on  carving  cherry- 
stones. They  toiled  on  Jupiters,  Apollos,  and 
Minervas.  Now,  ministers  often  pass  by  the  great 
facts,  and  the  rich,  succulent  texts,  perhaps  because 
others,  perhaps  because  they,  have  preached  on  them 
years  ago,  and  they  conclude  the  people  remembered 
them  as  well  as  the  preachers.  But  they  do  not  in 
point  of  fact  (their  minds  have  not,  indeed,  been  re- 
freshed by  occasional  glances  at  the  manuscripts),  and  if 
they  did,  let  there  be  new  sermons  on  them,  with  new 
views,  or  new  feelings,  or  new  illustrations,  and  ordi- 
narily there  will  be  some  new  hearers  to  be  instructed. 
4.  Have  an  aim  in  each  sermon.  Do  not  enter  on 
it  because  you  rnust  preach  something.  If  any  one 
should  say  to  you.  What  are  you  driving  at  ?  you 
should  have  no  hesitation  in  answering.  Let  there 
be,  for  example,  one  great  truth,  of  which  you  give 
the  evidence,  the  elucidation,  and  the  application,  or 
one  great  duty  of  which  you  give  the  obligation  and 
the  best  helps  you  can  to  its  performance.  Direct 
your  arrows. at  objects  without  being  personal ;  come 
near  your  hearers.  Letters  dropped  into  the  post- 
office  without  address  go  to  the  dead-letter  office,  and 
are  of  no  use  to  anybody. 


116  TU  UTH  BIOHTL  T  DIVIDED. 

This  distinct,  definite  aim  will  give,  what  all 
writers  emphasize  (Cicero  not  the  least  forcibly), 
namely,  unity.  So  mnch  has  been  written  on  it  that 
I  do  not  formally  include  it.  I  find,  moreover,  that 
early  Christian  preachers  have  often  disregarded  the 
received  rules  of  rhetoric  on  this  subject ;  and  yet,  I 
dare  say,  they  had — or  they  could  not  have  been  the 
good  preachers  they  were — definite  aims  which  gave  a 
real,  though  not  a  formal,  unity  to  their  discourses. 
The  young  sermon-writer  wishes  to  be  full,  and  fear- 
ing paucity  of  truths  at  the  end,  crowds  in  all  he 
knows  pertinent  to  the  subject  at  the  beginning.  It 
is  as  if  he  had  to  write  a  description  of  New  Haven, 
and  distrusting  his  store  of  materials,  he  dwells  so 
long  on  the  meadows  and  their  heaps  of  hay  on 
stilts,  shrinking  from  the  soil  that  bore  them,  that 
he  has  not  time  for  the  noble  spaces,  the  elms, 
the  edifices,  and  the  material  for  one  of  the 
finest  university  quadrangles  in  the  world.  But 
thought,  observation,  experience,  and  especially  full- 
ness of  mind,  will  correct  this  error,  and  a  man 
will  find  out  that  he  is  to  be  sure  of  his  target,  and 
his  bullet,  and  that  he  is  to  use  no  unnecessary 
poM^der. 


STUDY  FITNESS.  117 

5.  Consider  the  time,  place,  and  otlier  conditions 
as  affecting  yourselves,  and  tlie  people,  in  the  prep- 
aration of  your  sermons.  There  would  be  some 
incongruity,  for  example,  in  one  of  you,  during  the 
first  year  of  your  ministry,  announcing  as  a  text,  "  I 
have  been  young  and  now  I  am  old,"  etc.*  Ad- 
mitting the  propriety  of  your  enforcing  the  truth  of 
that  verse,  texts  can  be  found  that  would  not  make 
any  one  smile  as  you  read  them.  There  are  poi'tions 
of  God's  Word  which  pastors  long  settled,  and  settled 
in  the  esteem  and  regard  of  their  people,  may  well 
preach  from,  which  yet  would  lose  their  force 
in  an  occasional  sermon.  Such  a  text  is,  "My  lit- 
tle children,  of  whom  I  travail  in  birth  again," 
etc.  t 

The  circumstances  of  the  people  addressed  are  to  be 
carefully  studied.  I  will  be  forgiven  for  marking 
here  what  I  am  deeply  convinced  accounts  for  the 
failure  of  many  ministers.  They  are  called  to  quiet, 
retired  charges,  among  plain  people.  They  look 
higher  for  their    future  spheres  of    labor.     So  the 


*  Ps.  xxxvii,  25.  \G,a.\.  iv.  19. 


lis  FIDELITY  TO-DAY. 

sermons  they  write  are  not  exclusively,  not  even 
mainly,  for  tlieir  present  lowly  charge,  but  for  a 
cultivated,  numerous,  and  appreciative  city  audience, 
which  at  present  exists  only  in  their  imagination  : 
perhaps  never  does  anywhere  else.  For,  assuredly, 
the  best  way  for  a  man  to  get  out  of  a  lowly  position 
is  to  be  conspicuously  effective  in  it.  I  am  assured 
by  3'onr  Professors  that  nothing  can  be  more  welcome 
than  any  bit  of  personal  experience,  and  that  its 
employment  here  will  be  warranted  by  the  object  in 
view.  I  was  selected,  while  in  the  senior  year  of  my 
course,  by  my  fellow-students  to  be  their  missionary 
in  an  outpost,  where  the  congregation  .  consisted  of 
about  eighty  or  ninety  persons,  one-tenth  of  them, 
say,  cultivated,  another  tenth  fairly  intelligent,  and 
the  rest  poor,  ignorant  peasants,  speaking  English 
imperfectly.  I  had,  happily,  only  two  sermons  from 
my  class  exercises,  of  which  I  did  not  ^  conceive 
highly.  I  have  them  still  in  reserve  for  a  very  rainy 
day.  I  was  licensed  on  a  Tuesday,  and  reached  my  field 
on  Thursday  night.  I  began  on  the  next  Lord's 
day.  I  knew  my  people's  condition,  and  I  wrote  my 
sermon  on  Saturday.  If  these  poor  people  were  to 
understand   me  at  all,  I  must  be  simple.     If  they 


TRUE  PREPARATION.  119 

^vcl•e  to  be  kept  listening,  I  innst  go  rapidlj  from 
thonght  to  thought.  There  must  be  wliat  Cicero, 
Horace,  and  all  the  rhetorical  authorities  (I  know 
now,  I  did  not  then),  call  movement.  If  they  arc  to 
see  my  points,  illustrations  from  their  own  line  of 
observation  must  make  them  vivid  ;  and  yet,  if  there 
is  anything  coa,rse,  vulgar,  tawdiy,  or  puerile,  the  good 
taste  and  feeling  of  the  cultivated  will  be  oii'ended. 
For  such  a  congregation  for  the  first  two  or  three 
years  of  my  life  I  prepared  and  preached  my  sermons. 
I  got  other  like  congregations  all  around  on  week- 
days.  The  floor  on  which  I  stood  was  often  earthen, 
the  roof  not  frescoed,  the  pulpit  not  ecclesiastical ; 
but  I  state  a  simple  fact  when  I  say  that  many  of  the 
sermons  I  prepared  for  that  people  I  have  repeated 
in  New  York,  with  apparent  attention  and  profit  on 
the  part  of  the  people.  Is  that  because  I  had  ISTew 
York  in  my  mind's  eye  when  writing  them?  No, 
indeed !  It  is  because  I  had  topics  of  great,  world- 
wide, and  everlasting  interest.  They  were,  and  are, 
real,  living,  all-momentous  truths  to  me.  I  got  into 
the  way  of  making  them  as  plain  as  I  could  to  the 
people  1  was  bound  to  teach,  and  it  was  the  hest 
possille  prepa/ratixra  for  me  for  the  worT^,  of  mailing 


120  I^  THE  MOOD. 

them  as  plain  as  I  can  to  the  jyeoi^le  I  am  hound  to 
teach  now.  Gentlemen,  wherever  God  puts  you,  do 
the  best  you  can  for  the  people  there,  as  if  you  were 
to  live  and  die  among  them.  Any  duties  a  man  does 
with  a  view  to  something  else  remote  and  difierent, 
he  is  apt  to  do  in  a  perfunctory  and  ineffective  way. 
If  you  are  a  minister  or  missionary  of  a  small  com- 
pany, with  an  income  of  five  hundred  dollars — which 
is  more  than  I  began  on — do  your  ver}^  best  for  that 
company ;  and  if  you  grow,  and  it  is  best  for  you, 
the  Lord  will  send  somebody  m  search  of  you  for  a 
greater ;  for  there  is  no  waste  of  power  in  His  well- 
ordered  kingdom. 

6.  There  is  an  indescribable  but  quite  real  gain 
to  a  preacher  arising  out  of  his  own  sympathy  with 
his  subject.  A  man  will  write  and  speak  with  lan- 
guor and  feebleness  on  Christian  joy  and  gladness,  if 
his  own  spirit  is  depressed ;  and  he  will  usually  feel 
a  corresponding  embarrassment  in  discussing  spiritual 
depression,  its  causes  and  cure,  if  he  is  himself  in 
exuberant  spirits.  I  leave  out  of  account,  of  course, 
men  who  carry  into  the  pulpit  the  faculties  and 
powers  of  the  actor,  and  even  those  who  have  such 
facility  of  adaptation  that  for  the  time   they  com- 


PREACHERS,  NOT  ACTORS.  121 

pletely  throw  themselves  into  the  required  role.  I 
speak  of  ordinary,  truthful,  sincere  men.  This  cir- 
cumstance should  be  taken  into  account  in  the  choice 
of  subjects.  Some  regard  is  to  be  had  to  your  own 
mental  and  spiritual  condition.  "Whether  a  man 
should  ever  speak  above  and  beyond  his  own  experi- 
ence is  a  question  on  which  I  do  not  enter  here  ;  but 
for  his  own  sake,  his  people's  sake,  and  the  sake  of 
the  sermon,  he  should  have  his  theme  as  far  as  possible 
in  the  current  of  his  own  thoughts  and  feelings. 
There  are  topics,  indeed,  as  to  which  this  will  only 
become  the  case  by  effort,  by  contact  with  others,  and 
by  prayer.  If  a  week  has  been  marked,  for  example, 
by  sickness  and  death  among  the  people,  then  the 
sermon  may  well  catch  its  spirit  from  the  state  of 
mind  thus  induced.  1  think  it  a  dangerous  thing 
to  one's  self  to  deliver,  with  any  amount  of  feeling 
evoked  by  the  occasion,  the  sublime  truths  of  revela- 
tion, without  a  present,  immediate  sympathy  with 
them.  I  should  fear  its  effect  in  hardening  the  heart, 
producing  insincerity,  and  blunting  the  perceptions. 
Kow,  this  temptation  can  be  reduced  by  choosing 
themes  so  far  in  accord  with  the  tone  of  your  own 

minds  that  no  violence  will  be  done  them  in  the  dis- 
6 


122  WHERE  WE  BELONG. 

cussion,  and  that  tlie  preaching  will  be  congenial 
work,  and  enlist  your  whole  faculties.  Of  course, 
this  may  be  put  in  another  fashion  :  be  spiritually- 
minded  ;  live  much  in  the  written  Word  of  God  ;  be 
in  sympathy  with  tlie  Incarnate  "Word,  and  you  will 
be  at  home  among  the  themes  of  which  the  Bible 
speaks,  and  you  are  to  discourse.  And  in  connection 
with  this,  live  much  among  your  people.  It  has 
sometimes  happened  to  me  to  be  away  during  the 
week,  and  to  return  at  the  end  of  it  for  the  Sabbath. 
It  may  seem  absurd  to  you,  but  I  have  often  set  out 
on  the  Saturday  afternoon  to  make  two  or  three  calls 
among  my  people  to  renew  and  fix  the  sense  that 
they  belonged  to  me,  and  I  to  -them,  in  order  to 
comfort  in  the  services  of  the  following  Lord's  Day. 

And  now,  as  to  the  actual  making  of  the  sermon^ 
its  theme  being  chosen  with  due  regard  to  the  condi- 
tions stated,  no  one  man  can  lay  down  rules  for 
another.  This  much,  however,  in  general  terms,  I  do 
not  hesitate  to  say  to  you,  while  you  are  young  men 
and  young  ministers,  write  your  sermons  with  the 
utmost  care.  Write  with  the  most  lucid  order  you 
can  secure.  Write  in  the  best  language,  the  most 
concise,  elegant,  and  transparent  you  can  command. 


A  PLEA  FOR  THE  PEN.  123 

Write  in  the  most  correct  and  faultless  style  your 
judgment  approves.  Write  every  word,  or  an  equiv- 
alent for  every  word,  and  set  down  every  idea  you 
ought  to  give  to  the  people,  and  in  its  relative  place. 
Write,  if  necessary,  more  than  once,  first  a  brief,  then 
2k precis  of  greater  length,  then  a  full  and  complete 
presentation  of  the  whole  matter  as  you  are  to  give 
it  to  the  people.  I  say  tliis  to  you  with  the  utmost 
explicitness,  and  with  the  strongest  emphasis.  Fore- 
go every  bottle  but  the  ink-bottle.  Write  regularly, 
conscientiously,  and  at  your  best.  I  urge  this  on  you 
all  the  more  because  I  am  myself  described,  in  a  way 
that  may  mislead,  as  an  extemjyore  speaker,  and  I 
should  be  extremely  vexed  if  my  supposed  method 
should  ensnare  any  one  into  the  delusion  that  any 
purely  extetnpore  plan  is  likely  to  be  permanently 
effective  with  ordinary  men.  ,  Whether  you  take  your 
manuscript  to  the  pulpit,  or  burn  it  when  you  have 
done  your  best  upon  it,  or  leave  it  in  some  lirnbus 
sermomim  to  be  be  burned  by  ungrateful  posterity, 
is  of  secondary,  that  you  write  is  of  the  first,  impor- 
tance. 

If  you  inquire  why  this  is  urged  so  vehemently, 
let  me  reply  succinctly.     It  is  the  way  to  prime  off 


124  TAKING  ONE'S  OWN  MEASURE. 

redundancies.  It  is  the  way  to  exactness  of  phrase- 
ology. It  is  the  best  method  of  taking  one's  own 
measure.  One  has  an  idea,  or  a  group  of  them,  by 
which  he  is  impressed.  They  loom  large.  Like  the 
stars  in  the  sky,  they  appear  numerous  from  their 
very  lack  of  order.  He  thinks  himself  rich.  He  has 
his  mental  picture  of  them,  and  they  move  over  the 
landscape  of  his  imagination  like  the  bits  of  glass  in 
a  kaleidoscope.  He  sits  down  to  put  them  on  paper. 
One,  two,  three — what's  the  matter  ?  Where  are  all 
the  rest  ?  There  are  not  so  many  as  he  thought ; 
and,  behold,  they  are — now  that  he  looks  at  them  on 
paper — not  so  brilliant  as  he  imagined.  They  do  not 
sparkle.  There  is  no  corruscation.  If  he  is  to  make 
a  display,  he  must  get  more  thoughts  and  other 
images !  Had  he  got  on  his  feet  with  just  those 
pieces,  he  must  have  kept  the  kaleidoscope  in  con- 
stant motion,  showing  always  the  same  bits  of  glass, 
only  in  somewhat  different  combinations. 

•When  a  man  writes  his  sermon  as  well  as  he  can, 
he  has  a  kind  of  outward  and  sensible  sign  to  himself 
of  honest  preparation.  He  is  stronger  for  it.  He 
cannot  write  down  what  he  feels  to  be  absolute  non- 
sense.    Self-respect  forbids  his  wasting  good  paper 


GBEAT  SPEAKERS.  125 

on  mere  truisms,  on  absolute  commonplace,  and 
needless  repetition.  If  there  is  anything  in  him  he 
will  bring  it  out  and  put  it  on  paper.  If  there  is  not, 
tlie  paper  will  help  him  to  see  it,  and  the  sooner  he 
does,  the  better,  for  human  "  nature  abhors  a  vac- 
uum." s 

At  a  later  stage  I  shall  tell  you  how  all  this  is  com- 
patible with  a  free  delivery  of  one's  thoughts,  and, 
if  it  interests  any  one,  shall  state  my  own  method. 
But  here  I  am  anxious  to  combat  the  objections  that 
will  arise  in  some  minds  to  this  writing  plan.  "  Law- 
yers and  legislators  do  not  write."  How  do  you 
know  ?  On  the  contrary,  the  very  best  legal  speakers 
have  been  sedulous,  painstaking  writers,  often  re- 
writing, revising,  altering,  and  amending.  You  tell 
me  of  old  and  experienced  Senators  who,  in  the 
nature  of  the  case,  cannot  write  replies  to  speeches 
made  on  the  spot.  Ah,  yes !  but  we  are  not  talking 
of  old  and  experienced  Senators,  but  of  young  and 
quite  inexperienced  ministers.  And  even  with  the 
Senators,  the  case  differs  from  ours.  A  question  is 
up  for  a  month  at  a  time.  It  is  discussed  at  the 
table,  in  the  lobbies,  in  the  smoking-room,  and  in 
all  the  papers.     A  man  is  talking  of  little  else  while 


126  BRILLIANT  EXCEPTIONS. 

the  thing  is  on  the  carpet.  When  he  gets  on  his 
feet,  he  has  only  to  marshal  in  order  what  has  been 
on  his  lips,  and  in  his  brain  for  long,  and  in  which 
thought  has  been  stimulated  by  all  the  contact  of 
mind  with  mind.  And  then,  bear  in  jour  thoughts, 
that  when  that  matter  is  issued,  it  is  gone ;  and  there 
is  no  such  temptation  to  go  back  and  quote  himself 
as  there  would  be  if  he  had  to  discourse  twice  on 
the  same  theme,  or  a  branch  of  it,  on  Sabbath,  and  on 
one  week  night,  all  the  year  round. 

It  is  true  you  can  point  to  eminent  men  who  do 
not  write ;  and  one  who  nobly  fills  a  foremost  place 
in  the  pulpit  has  conspicuously  discarded  paper.  But 
that  is  after  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  writing;  and 
it  is  accompanied  by  the  caution  that  one  is  still  to 
write,  for  the  reasons  given  jflready,  only  not  what  you 
are  preaching.  Whenever  a  kind  Providence  fills 
theological  seminaries  with  men  of  the  ripe  culture, 
ready  fluency,  calm  equipoise,  and  copious  knowledge, 
of  that  eminent  brother,  aided  by  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury of  most  effective  writing,  then  and  not  till  then 
the  amateur  Professor — like  myself — of  that  day, 
may  counsel  the  abandonment  of  the  writing.  But 
is  it  fair  to  belittle  the  ladder  by  which  we  climbed  ? 


"  THE  SPUR  OF  THE  MOMENT."  127 

Yon  may  point  indeed  to  effective  speeches,  made 
"  on  the  spur  of  the  moment ;  "  but  they  are  no  argu- 
ment in  the  case.  There  was  something — a  scene,  an 
opponent,  an  argument,  that  drew  them  forth.  But, 
Gentlemen,  we  cannot  get  up  a  sthnulating  scene,  in 
God's  house,  three  times  a  week.  And  if  you  had  an 
honest  opinion  from  those  who  did  so  well  on  the 
spur  of  the  moment,  you  would  commonly  find  that 
faithful  memory,  put  on  her  mettle,  reproduced  some- 
thing laid  up.  before,  in  perhaps  another  connection, 
and  for  another  purpose.  I  have  heard  many  speeches, 
of  various  degrees  of  merit,  in  all  sorts  of  circum- 
stances ;  and  it  has  been  my  own  lot  to  make  several, 
mostly  of  little  account ;  and  my  deliberate  opinion 
is,  that  hardly  anything  is  of  value  that  has  not  been 
prepared,,  and  prepared  for  the  occasion  of  delivery. 

On  the  subject  of  divisions  of  sermons,  of  the  re- 
lations of  exordium,  exposition,  proposition,  main  ar- 
gument, and  conclusion,  or  peroration,  on  which  Aris- 
totle, Cicero,  Quinctilian  and  Horace  have  written,  I 
do  not  dwell.  There  are  three  books  in  which  these 
topics  are  discussed  at  length,  and  to  advantage, 
all  within  your  reach,  and  which  you  can  study  at 
your  leisure — only  do  not  put  it  off,  for  you  will  get 


1 2S  THE  A  UTHORITIES. 

little  leisure  when  you  are  pastors — namely  Wliately's, 
RTietoriG^  Dr.  Dabney's  Sacred  Rhetoric^  and  the 
volume  on  the  "  Offi,ce  and  Work  of  tJie  Christian 
Ministry, ^^  *  than  which  I  have  seen  no  more  exact 
and  adequate  text-book.  In  specifying  tliese  I  am 
not  to  be  understood  as  depreciating  tlie  various 
excellencies  of  Campbell,  Porter,  Shedd,  Yinet,  or  the 
admirable  "  Thoughts  on  Preaching  "  of  my  prede- 
cessor in  New  York,  which,  unhappily,  he  did  not  live 
to  set  in  order  with  the  consummate  taste  with  which 
liis  works  are  finished. 

I  will  only  add  in  conclusion,  Gentlemen,  that  when 
a  sermon  has  been  written,  full  of  matter,  clear  in 
order,  vivid  in  illustration,  rapid  and  graceful  in 
movement,  evangelical  in  tone,  and  fitted  to  the  best 
of  your  ability  to  the  people  who  are  to  hear  it, 
whether  you  read  or  utter  its  thoughts,  one  more  ele- 
ment in  preparation  is  not  to  be  omitted — for  if  omit- 
ted your  other  toil  goes  for  little.  "  The  flesh  profit- 
eth  nothing,"  nor  eloquence,  nor  imagination,  nor 
demonstration,  even  of  inspired  truth.     "  It  is  the 

*  "  Office  and  Work  op  the  Christian  Ministry,  "  by 
James  M.  Hoppin,  Professor  of  Homiletics  aud  Pastoral  The- 
ology in  Yale  College. 


SERMONS  CONSECBxiTED.  129 

spirit  that  qnickenetli."  Take  your  sermon,  la}'  it 
out  before  God  your  Saviour  and  Master,  make  it  a 
clear  offering  to  Him.  Say  to  Him,  "  Here,  Lord,  I 
am  Thine ;  for  Thee,  and  for  none  other.  This  is 
Thy  truth.  I  have  done  my  utmost  to  set  it  forth  in 
order.  Lord  take  it;  use  it;  help  me  to  be  nothing, 
to  forget  myself,  my  work,  my  effort,  and  let  the 
people  see  only  Thee,  hear  onl}-^  Thy  word,  deal  only 
with  Thee,  that  beholding  Thy  beauty,  they  may  love 
Thee,  that  seeing  Thine  image  they  may  be  changed 
into  it,  by  the  Spirit  of  God." 

Having  seen  your  dimness  in  His  great  light,  and 
felt  your  feebleness  in  presence  of  His  power,  com- 
mit your  work  to  Him,  and  let  there  be,  if  possible, 
no  more  of  self  blending  with  it.  Go  and  preach, 
now.  No  matter  how  you  are  criticised ;  no  matter 
how  weak  you  seem  when  you  have  preached.*    The 

*  It  is  difficult  to  get  rid  of  the  idea  that  preachers  who  have 
acquired  some  position,  and  become  objects  of  popular  notice, 
become  less  useful  as  preachers  in  their  high,  than  in  their 
lower,  estate.  While  a  man  is  pursuing  his  work  unnoticed  and 
compa'fatively  unknown,  he  usually  does  it  in  the  way  he  finds 
best  for  results,  and  with  little  regard  to  rules.  But  the  moment 
he  becomes  a  little  prominent,  the  vultures  are  gathered  together. 
From  the  secular,  and,  more  vulgar  and  vulgarizing  still,  from 
the  religious  press,  literary  scouts  are  detached  to  scrutinize,  and 
6* 


130  GLORY  IN  THE  LORD. 

Lord's  word  has  had  free  course :  and  it  is  His  way 

by  the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound   the 

mighty.     He   stains  the  pride  of  all  human  glory, 

that  according  as  it  is  written  "  he  that  glorieth,  let 

him  glory  in  the  Lord."     Now,  it  is  no  matter   if 

there  be  opposition.     It  is  not  against  you: — you  are 

no  longer  in  the  case.     The  soul  has  heard  the  Lord. 

He  will  take  care  of  His  work  and  glory. 

"  Faint  not,  and  fret  not,  for  threatened  woe, 
Watcliman  on  Truth's  gray  height ! 
Few  though  the  faithful,  and  fierce  though  the  foe. 
Weakness  is  aye  Heaven's  might. 

Time's  years  are  many,  Eternity  one, 
And  one  is  the  Infinite  ;  . 

The  chosen  are  few,  few  the  deeds  well  done, 
For  scantness  is  still  heaven's  might." 

report  "  how  he  does  it ;  "  as  if  he  were  an  actor,  trained  to  play 
his  part,  and  as  fair  a  subject  for  discussion  as  if  every  man  had 
paid  his  dollar  for  the  opportunity  to  witness  his  tricks  of  rhet- 
oric. His  figure,  his  dress,  his  hair,  his  pronunciation,  his 
height,  the  plans  on  which  they  suppose  he  proceeds  (when  in 
most  cases  he  has  no  plans),  are  all  duly  set  forth,  with  a  fullness 
and  accuracy  proportioned  to  the  invention  and  power  of  obser- 
vation of  the  critics.  Gentlemen !  we  are  not  on  exhibition. 
We  are  trying  to  do  a  solemn  duty,  under  great  responsibilities. 
To  keep  down  self-consciousness  and  forget  ourselves  is  one  of 
our  hardest  tasks,  if  you  will  but  think  of  it.  Do  not,  please, 
make  it  harder  for  us. 


LECTURE    VI. 


A  PILE  of  cannon-balls  on  tlie  grass,  uniform, 
round,  shining,  heavy,  may  represent  a  pile  of 
sermons.  They  are  sometimes  heavy  also — not  in 
the  military  sense.  But  as  with  the  bullets,  much  of 
their  efficacy  will  depend  on  the  aim,  the  force,  and 
the  general  manner  of  delivery.  Many  sermons 
are  fired  too  high,  many  are  misdirected,  many 
fall  short  of  the  mark,  or,  like  spent  bullets, 
they  do  little  execution.  We  propose  to  devote 
the  most  of  this  hour  to  the  question  of  delivering 
sermons. 

To  avoid  disappointment  at  the  close,  let  it  be 
stated  here  that  the  lecturer  knows  no  secret  of 
success,  has  no  uniform  rule  that  infallibly  succeeds, 
and  does  not  believe  there  is  such  a  rule  in  ex- 
istence. The  trees,  as  they  were  made,  bring  forth 
fruit  after  their  kind,  and  all  that  gardeners  can  do  is 


132  CLOSE  READING. 

to  give  them  a  fair  field,  and  keep  off  all   noxious 
things. 

1.  Some  read  their  sermons  word  for  word  as 
written,  from  beginning  to  end.  The  extent  to 
which  this  practice  prevails  is  so  great  as  to  make  it 
certain  that  it  cannot  be  absurd  and  ridiculous  on  its 
face.  Many,  perhaps  the  great  majority,  of  the 
English  Episcoj^al  clergy  do  this.  So  do  many  of 
the  Presbyterian  clergy  in  Scotland.  So  do  most  of 
the  Congregational,  Baptist,  Presbyterian,  and  Epis- 
copal clergy,  I  presume,  of  America.  Not  only  is 
this  the  case,  but  many  of  the  very  greatest  preachers, 
like  Jonathan  Edwards  in  this  country,  like  Chalmers 
in  Scotland,  read  their  sermons.  The  advantages 
are  many.  Precision,  exactness,  and  freedom  from 
all  offensive  excrescences,  such  as  loose  language, 
colloquialisms,  disjointed  grammar,  and  rambling 
repetition,  are,  or  ought  to  be,  secured.  Brevity  is 
also  more  easily  arranged  for  and  assured.  There 
is  also  a  fair  presumption  established  in  the  mind 
of  the  hearer  that  the  preacher  has  made  preparation, 
for  there  is  the  manuscript  before  him.  In  England 
this  presumption  is  weakened  in  a  good  degree  by 
the  known  traffic  in  sermons,  and  by  incidents,  grave 


TWO  SIDES  TO  THE  QUESTION.  133 

and  gay,  of  which  every  one  hcas  heard,  as  to  sermons 
that  have  done  more  than  double  duty.  One  of  the 
greatest  gains,  it  appears  to  me,  is  found  in  the 
closeness  and  consecutiveness  of  thought,  and  the 
felicity  of  expression,  whicli  it  is  difficult  to  have 
but  by  the  reading  of  written  composition.  I  con- 
fess that  when  I  have  occasionally  listened  to  the 
better  order  of  preachers  of  this  type,  and  have 
noticed  the  faultless  and  elegant  diction,  and  the 
charm  of  ornate  composition,  pleasing  as  it*  strikes 
the  ear,  I  have  had  moments  of  despair,  and  thought 
how  absurd  and  unreasonable  it  is  to  expect  such 
audiences  to  listen  to  any  one  who  adopts  the  plan  to 
which  I  have  been  led,  and  which  must  necessarily 
lack  these  attractive  peculiarities. 

But  there  are  considerations  on  the  other  side. 
A  directness  of  address  is  attainable  in  another  way, 
which  it  is  difficult  to  have  in  readino-.  The  emotion 
of  yesterday  cannot  always  be  at  the  call  of  the 
preacher  when  he  reads,  as  when  he  wrote,  though  it 
must  be  admitted  that  genuine  pathos  or  gennine 
humor  will  affect  when  read,  no  matter  when  written  ; 
the  jokes,  therefore,  over  "  feelings  a  week  old  "  have 
no  adequate  foundation.     The  number  of  men  who 


134  GOOD  READING. 

can,  or  do,  read  so  well  as  to  turn  attention  from  the 
readin<^,  and  fix  it  on  the  person  ajid  the  ideas,  is, 
unfortunate!}^,  not  large.  Nor  does  it  certainly 
follow  that  a  man  has  given  a  matter  thorough 
and  effective  preparation  because  he  has  written. 
There  is  extempore  writing,  as  truly  as  extempore 
speaking. 

This  much,  then,  must  be  admitted,  that  while 
many  are  most  effective  and  admirable  when  reading 
sermoiJB,  there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  things  to 
make  it  the  absolute  rule,  and  it  has  some  inherent 
disadvantages  to  be  got  over.  This  further  observa- 
tion may  be  made,  that  they  who  read  ought  to  read 
well,  that  is,  with  distinctness ;  enough  loudness  to 
be  audible  without  effort  from  the  hearers ;  with 
proper  emphasis ;  and  with  suitable  feeling.  And 
yet,  if  the  reading  be  obviously  artistic,  it  offends. 
Good  reading,  like  a  good  style  in  writing,  should  be 
like  clear  glass,  of  which  the  eye  takes  no  account 
because  it  perfectly  sees  through  it  the  objects 
beyond.  All  the  ornamental  in  reading  or  in  writing 
is  like  the  colors  on  stained  glass.  What  is  gained 
in  beauty  is  lost  in  transparency. 

2,  A  second  method  is  employed    by  those    who 


MEMORIZING.  135 

write  and  then  commit  to  memory,  and  repeat  to 
the  audience.  Many  Scotch  preachers  be^in  and  go 
through  life  on  this  plan,  acquiring  a  certain  facility 
of  remembering,  after  some  time,  by  which  the  early 
labor  is  greatly  reduced.  On  this  method,  on- 
lookers may  draw  conclusions  from  general  principles 
which  are  not  borne  out  by  fact.  It  might  be- 
thought, for  example,  an  almost  impossible  thing  to 
learn  a  sermon  of  an  hour,  and  perhaps  two  of  them 
for  a  day.  It  might  be  thought  that  the  mind  would 
be  so  busy  in  remembering,  as  to  have  no  time  for 
feeling.  It  might  be  thought  that  action,  and  all 
other  concomitants  of  natural  communication,  would 
be  necessarily  .shut  out  by  the  one  absorbing  effort  to 
get  the  ideas  and  words  into  their  places.  Yet,  in 
point  of  fact,  these  evils  are  escaped  by  the  best 
preachers  of  this  sort.  They  do  feel,  and  show 
feeling ;  do  move  eye  and  hand  and  body  in  sympathy 
with  their  words,  and  produce,  as  in  his  line  an  actor 
does,  as  a  good  elocutionist  does,  great  effects  by 
their  efforts.  I  think  it  likely  that  Whitfield  did  not 
write ;  but  he  had  gone  over  a  certain  set  of  truths 
and  remarks  until  they  were  as  good  as  written. 
The  same  is  true,  I  presume,  of  a  living  American 


136  DEFECTS  OF  THE  PLAN. 

Evangelist,  who  is  now  preaching  in  Great  Britain 
with  very  marked  blessing.  ]^o  one  who  has  gone 
through  an  American  college  can  miss  knowing  the 
steps  of  the  process;  for  all  stage-speaking  is  done 
in  this  way ;  and  many  men  never  make  as  much 
impression  as  orators  in  all  their  future  life  as  in  their 
"  pieces  "  on  the  stage.  If  they  were  obliged  to 
write  more  and  more  speeches,  memorize,  and  de- 
liver them,  the  exercise  would  become  easier,  and 
many  men  who  now  read  would  thus  be  more  effect- 
ive than  on  their  present  method. 

Yet,  it  must  be  admitted  that  there  are  consider- 
ations on  the  other  side.  Some  are  deficient  in  ver- 
bal memory.  Some  are  incajDable  of  trusting  them- 
selves. Some  are  so  obviously  and  completely 
introverted— the  eye  on  vacancy,  the  brow  contracted, 
and  the  perplexed  and  distracted  mind  running  to 
and  fro  in  the  chambers  of  the  brain,  looking  for 
missing  words,  searching  in  the  dark,  very  much 
like  ^neas  when  calling  again  and  again  for  the  lost 
Creusa !  And  the  same  want  of  spontaneity,  freshness, 
and  directness  chargeable  on  the  reading  plan  is,  in  a 
degree,  to  be  expected  here.  Yet,  we  repeat,  evils 
which  we,  in   theory,   might   expect   are,  by  many, 


SPEAK  NATURALLY.  I37 

avoided  in  actual  practice,  for  the  human  mind  is  a 
wonderful  instrument,  and  capable  of  astonishing 
adaptations. 

They  who  make  addresses  on  this  plan,  have  espe- 
cial need  to  cultivate  the  voice,  or  it  is  in  great  dan- 
ger of  becoming  a  monotone.  The  air  of  average 
church-buildings,  particularly  in  the  afternoons  and 
evenings,  co-operating  with  the  mental  and  bodily 
condition  of  many  hearers,  is  so  conducive  to  sleep, 
that  it  is  undesirable  to  invite  "  tired  nature's  sweet 
restorer "  by  the  voice  in  the  pulpit.  When  both 
eye-gate  and  ear-gate  are  closed  "  the  city  of  Man- 
soul,"  as  Bunyan  represents  it,  cannot  be  entered  for 
its  good.  To  speak  naturally,  even  what  we  have 
ourselves  w^ritten,  is  difficult ;  yet  not,  it  seems  to  me, 
quite  so  difficult  as  to  read  naturally.  A  larger  pro- 
portion, according  to  my  observation,  of  readers 
than  of  non-readers,  suffer  from  weakened  throats. 
This  may  be  explained  in  part  by  the  fact  that  in 
reading  the  head  is  bent ;  there  is  a  pressure  on  the 
vocal  organs,  which  work  at  a  disadvantage  as  com- 
pared with  the  ease  and  freedom  they  enjoy  in  an 
erect  speaker.  In  the  Episcopal  Church  the  reading 
of  the  service,  if  followed  by  sermons  by  the  same 


138  FROM  NOTES. 

men,  such  as  are  preached  elsewhere,  would  become 
intolerable,  and,  in  point  of  fact,  breaks  down  many 
who  attempt  it.  The  good  preachers  usually  have 
readers. 

3.  The  third  method  is  that  which  almost  every  one 
has  adopted  some  time  or  other,  namely,  the  making 
of  a  brief  with  heads,  divisions,  and  catchwords  on 
which  the  eye  rests,  while  the  mind  is  expected  to  find 
suitable  language  on  the  occasion.  It  is  a  very  com- 
mon, and  very  effective  plan  with  many,  notwith- 
standing its  alleged  resemblance  to  a  chicken  stoop- 
ing for  a  mouthful  of  water,  and  then  stretching  up 
the  neck  to  get  the  benefit  of  it  and  send  it  to  its 
proper  place.  A  man  who  finds  he  can  manage  very 
well  on  this  plan,  ought,  it  seems  to  me,  to  be  at  the 
pains  sometime  to  fix  in  his  mind  the  entries  on  his 
bit  of  paper,  and  dispense  with  it,  and  at  least  ascer- 
tain by  experience,  if  an  increase  of  power  be  not 
within  his  reach. 

From  having  employed  this  plan  for  many  years  in 
a  ladies'  class  of  between  two  and  three  hundred  per- 
sons, and  where  many  Scripture  texts  are  in  requisition, 
I  know  that  it  can  be  harmonized  with  considerable 
freedom  of  speech.     Still,  a  man  must  know  his  sub- 


A  MORE  EXCELLENT  WA  Y.  I39 

ject  tliorouglily,  or  there  will  be  bondage,  and  th.e 
chains  will  clank. 

4.  The  fourth  and  last  method  is  to  prepare  what 
one  has  to  say  with  care  and  exactness,  in  the  substance 
and  the  words,  so  as  to  have  it  all  before  the  mind, 
and  then  to  stand  up  and  give  the  sense  of  it  to  the 
people,  in  such  language  as  comes  at  the  moment. 
The  mode  of  preparation  may  be  by  writing,  or,  as 
it  is  in,  I  think,  exceptional  cases,  without  writing, 
but  solely  by  meditation.  In  harmony  with  what 
has  been  said  already,  and  from  my  own  experience, 
I  think  the  writing  is  better  than  the  mere  medita- 
tion for  ordinary  men. 

I  am  assured  that  there  will  be  pardon  extended  to 
me  for  the  egotism  of  detailing  here  my  own  experi- 
ence. I  wrote,  and  in  a  sort  of  way,  memorized  two 
or  three  class  exercises  when  a  student.  I  had  to 
preach  before  the  Presbytery,  and  it  was  the  custom 
for  each  minister  to  criticise.  One  good,  wise,  and 
plain-spoken  man  remarked  that  "  the  young  man 
seemed  to  look  only  at  some  object  in  the  corner  of 
the  gallery,  and,  moreover,  to  be  very  much  afraid  of 
it.  He  ought  to  look  at  those  to  whom  he  speaks." 
That  was   a  true  and  a  salutary  criticism.     I   laid 


•140  A  TEST  OF  GOOD  8EBM0N8. 

it  to  heart ;  I  never  tried  memorizing  again.  From 
that  time  and  onward  I  put  on  paper  all  I  knew 
about  my  subject,  in  the  order  in  which  it  had  better 
be  spoken,  I  iix  this  order  and  the  illustrations  in 
my  mind,  in  studious  disregard  of  the  language,  except 
in  the  case  of  definitions,  if  there  are  any,  depending 
on  verbal  exactness.  I  try  to  have  it  so  that  I  could 
talk  it  over ;  give  the  end  first,  or  begin  in  the  middle 
if  need  be,  and  then  I  go  to  the  pulpit,  and  convei'se 
with  the  people  about  the  matter  in  a  tone  loud 
enough  to  be  heard  through  the  house,  if  I  can.  That 
is  all.    There  is  no  secret  about  it.  Gentlemen. 

Some  inquisitive  person  may  ask  how  long  this 
fixing  process  requires ?  The  time  varies;  but  this 
rule  is  pretty  uniform — the  worse  the  sermon,  the 
longer  it  takes.  A  good  sermon  has  points,  natural 
divisions,  inherent  helps  to  memor3^  It  is  like  a  JSTew 
England  village,  each  house  with  something  distinct- 
ive about  it.  A  poor  sermon  is  like  a  street  of  brown 
stone  houses,  all  much  alike  in  dull  monotony  in 
everything  but  the  numbers,  which  usually  (so  per- 
verse is  human  nature.)  you  can  only  see  by  climbing 
the  stoop. 

When  a  good  sermon  is  finished  on  Saturday,  a 


"IN  BLACK  AND  WHITE."  141. 

reading  that  evening,  and  another,  more  hurried,  on 
Sabbath  morning,  is  snflEicient,  and  a  conple  of  hours 
is  quite  enough  to  repossess  one's  self  of  the  right 
kind  of  sermon  written  twenty  years  ago. 

1^0 w,  one  ma}'  say,  why  take  the  trouble  to  write  ? 
Already  general  considerations  on  that  subject  have 
been  submitted,  to  which  it  is  sufBcient  here  to  refer. 
For  me,  I  should  not  feel  that  I  had  done  my  utmost 
without  it.  I  have  an  indefinite  feeling  that  the  ser- 
mon written  is  a  tangible  pi'operty,  common  to  me 
and  to  my  people.  I  see  just  how  much  I  know,  and 
how  much  I  can  hope  to  make  the  people  know.  If 
I  cannot  put  an  idea  down  on  paper,  so  that  1  can 
tell  it  intelligibly  to  the  people,  then  it  might  do  for 
a  book,  but  it  does  not  suit  a  sermon.  I  cannot  ex- 
pect the  people  to  remember  what  I  could  not.  So 
the  composition  comes  to  have  a  tacit,  constant  refer- 
ence to  the  speaking,  and  the  "ideas  and  illustrations 
take  on  a  kind  of  fitness  for  conversational  use,  and 
though  the  outcome  will  often  lack  neatness,  exact- 
ness, delicacy  of  touch,  and  sustained  elevation,  it  is  a 
part  of  myself,  and  I  have  the  feeling  that  it  may 
and  can  become  a  pai't  of  my  hearers. 

I  have  already  repeatedly,  and  I  hope  sufficiently, 


142  APOSTOLIC  EXAMPLE. 

guarded  myself  against  being  supposed  to  dictate  to 
each  man  the  way  in  which  he  is  to  preach,  irre- 
spective of  habits,  temperament,  and  aptitudes.  For 
the  sake  of  those  who  are  considering  how  they  are 
to  proceed  in  the  formation  of  their  plans,  it  may 
be  proper  here  to  state  a  few  considerations,  in  favor 
of  what  1  shall  call  accurate  writing  and  free 
delivery. 

It  must  be  owned  that  the  reading  of  sermons  is 
unknown  in  the  reports  that  come  to  us  of  apostolic 
preaching.  The  apostles  spake  "  boldly  "  {parresia), 
witli  freedom  of  speech  (Acts  iv.  13) ;  and  a  picture 
of  any  one  of  them  reading  an  address  to  the  people 
would  be  instantly  challenged  as  palpably  inaccurate. 
The  same  is  true  of  our  Lord,  not  only  in  His 
discourses  to  the  people  by  the  sea-side  and  the  way- 
side, but  in  His  exposition  in  the  synagogue.  He 
closed  the  book,  and  gave  it  to  the  minister,  and  sat 
down ;  and  when  the  expectant  looks  of  the  people 
invited  an  address,  "  he  began  to  say  unto  them." 
(Luke  iv.  20,  21.) 

Now,  it  may  be  alleged  that  these  cases  are  not  in 
point,  on  two  grounds :  that  in  the  first  place  the 
sermons  of  that  time  were  not  the  formal,  didactic 


SERMON  AT  A THENS.  143 

statements  now  required,  but  personal  narratives,  or 
arguments  made  and  sustained  by  quotation  from 
tlie  Divine  Word,  as  in  the  case  of  Peter's  preach- 
ing at  Pentecost ;  and  in  the  second  place, 
these  preachers  certainly  did  not  write  sermons, 
but  spoke,  in  the  literal  sense  of  the  phrase,  extem- 
pore. 

As  to  the  former  of  these  two  rejoinders,  it.  is 
freely  admitted  that  apostolic  addresses  were  informal 
and  undetermined  by  any  homiletical  rules  for 
sermon-making.  But  it  will  be  remembered  that  we 
plead  for  a  return  to  their  method ;  for  a  less 
restrained  plan  ;  for  the  opening  up  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, in  the  form  of  exposition.  So  far  we  should 
bring  ourselves  into  closer  accord  with  the  apostolic 
ministry.  It  would  be  gratuitous  to  assume  that 
when  Paul  opened  his  mouth  on  Mars'  Hill  to  preach 
to  sophists  and  idolaters,  he  had  made  no  preparation. 
He  could  not  move  among  images  and  altars  without 
reflection  on  the  specific  truth  which  was  to  over- 
throw both  the  one  and  the  other.  His  mind  was 
too  active  to  allow  him  to  gaze  in  unreflecting 
wonder.  But  when  he  did  speak,  his  sermon  was 
obviously   born    of    the    occasion  ;    drew   its    force 


144      THE  SONS  OF  THE  PROPHETS. 

and  inspiration  from  the  surroundings ;  and  had 
all  the  freedom  and  impetus  of  a  decided,  prompt 
utterance  from  a  well-furnished  head  and  a  fervent 
heart. 

That  the_y  did  not  write  is  to  be  accounted  for  in 
part  by  the  supernatural  aid  given  to  them  ;  and  in 
part  by  the  occasional  character  of  their  ministrations. 
Thoy  moved  from  place  to  place  in  most  cases,  and 
do  not  stand  in  the  same  relation  as  the  settled 
pastor. 

There  is  another  form  of  authority  on  this  subject 
which  I  do  not  remember  to  have  seen  adduced,  and 
yet  which,  it  seems  to  me,  is  admissible.  It  is  com- 
mon and  just  to  say  that  the  later  prophets  of  the 
Old  Testament  constituted  a  providential  preparation 
for  the  ISTew  Testament.  As  one  reads  through  his 
Bible  in  order,  the  priest  becomes  of  less  and  less 
importance,  and  the  teacher  rises  into  prominence. 
Quite  early  in  Hebrew  history,  theological  seminaries 
have  a  place,  and  the  "sons  of  the  prophets"  occupied 
them,  receiving  instruction  in  music  and  the  sacred 
Scriptures.  The  far-seeing  patriots  of  Israel,  like 
Elijah  and  Elisha,  saw  the  need  of  an  educated  body 
of  instructors  for  the  people,  if  Baal-worship  was  to 


WITH  A  DIFFERENCE.  I45 

be  excluded.  Now,  the  inspired  prophets,  who,  as  a 
rule,  were  of  this  class,  but  rendered  pre-eminent  bj 
inspiration,  according  to  my  conception  of  their  woi'k, 
delivered  the  messages,  as  the  word  of  the  Lord,  to 
the  people,  not  always,  indeed,  comprehending  the 
tidings  they  bore,  but  employing  their  own  minds  on 
them,  as  we  do  on  the  Bible ;  and  their  written 
statements  remain  as  the  permanent  record  of  their 
fidelity,  and  the  means  of  warning  and  instruction  to 
all  future  ages.  According  to  this  conception,  there 
is  little  difficulty  in  accounting  for  the  abrupt  transi- 
tions, the  frequent  changes  of  person,  of  scenery,  and 
of  style  of  address.  We  have  in  our  hands,  in  fact, 
the  written  communications  which  they,  putting 
themselves  into  the  right  state  of  mental  receptivity, 
obtained  from  the  Lord,  and  which  they  made  the 
basis  of  addresses  to  the  people.  In  so  far  (and  only 
in  so  far,  for  there  are  many  obvious  differences)  they 
seem  to  me  to  furnish  example  to  us  of  lowly, 
prayerful  waiting  on  God,  in  the  study  of  His  word, 
and  in  careful  preparation,  followed  by  free,  earnest 
spoken  address  to  the  people.  Nor  can  we  do  any 
better  than  they  did  in  that  time  of  genuine  revival 
described  in  2  Chron.  xvii.  9,  when  Levites  and  priests 
7 


146  THE  WAY  OF  TEE  FATHERS. 

"  taught  in  Judah,  and  had  the  book  of  the  law  of 
the  Lord  with  them,  and  went  about  throughout  all 
the  cities  of  Judah,  and  taught  the  people.  And  the 
fear  of  the  Lord  fell  upon  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
lands  that  were  round  about  Judah,  so  that  they 
made  no  war  against  Jehoshaphat."  Now,  as  then,  a 
strong  and  faithful  pulpit  is  no  mean  safeguard  of  a 
nation's  life. 

For  four  or  five  centuries  after  our  Lord's  ascension 
the  ordinary  preaching  was  mainly  expository,  and 
delivered  without  notes ;  but  if  we  may  draw  a  con- 
clusion from  the  homilies,  commentaries,  and  other 
works  that  remain,  written  preparation  was  made. 
The  same  was  true  in  much  later  times :  hence  the 
voluminous  remains  of  many  preachers.  If  any  of 
you  look  with  amazement  on  the  immense  amount  of 
printed  matter  left  by  some  of  the  Reformers  and 
some  of  the  Puritans,  remember  two  things ;  the  less 
important,  that  these  worthy  men  were  not  required 
to  keep  abreast  of  a  religious  press  like  ours,  and 
read  numerous  newspapers  and  pamphlets,  nor  to  at- 
tend interminable  meetings  and  committees,  the  ex- 
crescences on  mcjdern  Christian  life  in  which  Christian 
activity  is  organized  away  to  so  large  an  extent,  out 


"DRY  BONES."  147 

of  the  hands  of  individuals.  The  second  and  more 
important  is  that  they  habitually  expounded  the  word 
of  God,  and  that  we  have  nearly  all  that  they  wrote 
and  spoke.* 

It  was  with  the  admission  into  the  church  of  the 
method  of  the  schools  that  the  simplicity,  naturalness, 
and  directness  of  the  early  preaching  were  exchanged 
for  formal  methods,  excessively  minute  analysis,  and 
multitudinous  divisions,  of  which  it  has  been  wittily 
said  that,  like  the  bones  in  Ezekiel's  valley  of  vision, 
"  there  were  very  many — and  they  were  very  dry." 
So  soon  as  men  began  to  make,  as  JSTathaniel  Hardy 
does,  fifty-nine  sermons  on  the  first  and  second  chap- 
ters of  1st  John,  being  earnest  and  evangelical,  anx- 

*  In  Nichols'  Series  of  Commentaries,  issued  in  Edinburgh 
some  years  ago,  is  the  well-known  work,  "  A  Commentaky  on 
THE  Whole  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  Being  the  substance 
of  thirty  years'  Wednesday's  Lectures  at  Blackfriars,  London,  by 
that  holy  and  learned  divine,  William  Gouge,  D.D.,  arid  late 
Pastor  there."  An  account  of  his  life  and  labors  is  prefixed, 
which  ministers  would  do  well  to  read  in  these  times  of  appar- 
ent overwork,  when  they  are  tempted  to  think  no  lot  so  hard  as 
their  own.  Gouge  was  a  model  pastor,  and  his  Wednesday  lec- 
tures had  such  a  place  in  the  public  esteem  "that  when  the 
godly  Christians  of  those  times  came  out  of  the  country  into 
London,  they  thought  not  their  business  done  unless  they  had 
been  at  Blackfriars  Lecture." 


148  MEANING,  AND  ITS  UTTERANCE. 

ions  to  tell  the  saving  trnth,  they  are  tempted  to 
strain  passages  in  order  to  get  in  all  they  desire,  and 
so  they  become  less  accurate  than  they  shonld  be  in 
reflecting  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  and  nothing  more, 
in  the  Scriptures  discussed. 

But,  in  the  next  place,  is  there  not  a  form  in  which 
the  help  of  the  Holy  Ghost  may  be  realized,  where 
a  man  has  put  down,  for  the  sake  of  accuracy,  and  in 
the  way  of  honest  preparation,  what  he  feels  he  ought 
to  teach,  and  'then  expects,  as  to  the  delivery,  that  it 
will  be  given  him  in  that  hour  what  he  shall  say  ? 
Dr.  Parker*  makes  a  distinction  between  interpre- 
tation, which  usually  comes  slowly  as  the  fruit  of 
labor  and  diligence  (though  a  meaning  may  suddenly 
flash  out  to  the  eye  of  a  devout  and  attentive  reader), 
and  the  utterance  of  the  interpretation.  Ko  man  is 
at  liberty  to  go  into  the  pulpit  and  count  on  the 
instant  help  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  interpret  to  him 
the  Divine  Word.  By  its  very  nature  the  Bible 
is  in  his  hand  ;  he  can  study  it  at  leisure.  The 
Lord  does  not  supersede  human  diligence  by  super- 
natural aid.     No  need  exists  to  wait  for  the  public 

*  The  Paraclete  (p.  89),  New  York  :  Scribner,  Armstrong 
&Co.  . 


'  COOL  BLOOD."  149 

occasion,  to  ascertain  its  meaning.  That  can  be  done 
in  the  closet.  But  he  thinks  it  is  different  with 
utterance.  The  public  occasion  changes  conditions, 
introduces  electric  sympathy,  brings  high  excitement, 
and  intense  emotion.  Memory,  fancy,  and  especially 
feeling,  are  stimulated.  This  is  all  confessedly  on 
the  human  side,  but  Dr.  Parker  thinks  that  it  cannot  be 
offensive  to  the  Holy  Ghost  to  ask  such  power  of 
utterance — not  literary  finish,  or  the  conditions  of 
successful  authorship — as  will  effectively  reach  the 
human  heart.  All  this,  it  must  be  admitted,  will 
apply  also  to  writing,  "so  that  it  shall  reach  the  heart." 
S'o  far  Dr.  Parker's  argument  seems  to  me  to  prove 
nothing  in  favor  of  his  plan,  unless,  indeed,  it  could 
be  shown  that  reading  preachers  do  not  honor  the 
Holy  Ghost  by  asking  guidance  in  writing,  which  is 
absurd.  But  he  does  raise  a  good  point  in  another 
connection,  namely,  that  what  a  man  has  written  in 
"  cool  blood  in  his  study,  and  which  he  reads 
verbatim^  cannot  have  the  help  which  a  congregation 
affords  to  the  urgent,  rapid,  percussive,  and  living 
utterance  that  cannot  be  printed."  * 

*  The  Paraclete,  p.  90. 


150  HIGH  EXAMPLES. 

All  that  can  be  said,  probably,  on  the  subject,  is 
that  when  a  minister  is  convinced  in  his  judgment 
that  he  can  effect  more  by  speaking  than  reading  his 
sermons,  and,  at  any  cost  of  trouble  or  anxiety,  deter- 
mines to  do  it,  he  may  rely  on  the  Holy  Ghost  for 
aid,  just  as  in  any  other  duty  which  is  difficult,  and 
yet  not  to  be  evaded.  And  I  think,  in  the  matter  of 
words,  he  will  usually  deceive  that  aid.  He  may  not 
necessarily  be  an  eloquent  or  a  successful  preacher, 
in  the  common,  popular  acceptation ;  but  one  thing 
you  will  learn.  Gentlemen,  in  the  course  of  your 
Christian  life,  that  men  are  very  fallible  judges  of 
our  success.  All  too  often  "that  which  is  highly 
esteemed  among  men  is  abomination  in  the  sight  of 
God."  * 

In  the  next  place,  some  importance  is  to  be  at- 
tached to  the  views  and  experience  of  those  who 
have  rendered  good  service  as  preachers.  So  far  as 
there  is  evidence  on  the  subject,  it  is  plain  that  in 
the  days  of  great  patristic  preaching,  some  variety  of 
method  obtained,  as  at  present.  Some  read  wholly ; 
some  memorized  ;  some   prepared    material   before- 

*  Luke  xvi,  15. 


TWO  GREAT  PREACHERS.  151 

hand  ;  some  literally  extemporized,  finding  the  -topic 
in  the  passage  read,  or  in  a  passing  incident  connected 
with  the  service.  The  Presbyters  made  exhortations, 
and  their  President  followed  in  a  longer  discourse. 
This  we  learn  from  the  Apostolical  Constitutions ^  so 
called.  *  But  the  life  of  true  religion  had  so  entirely 
run  into  rubric  and  ritual,  as  it  is  shadowed  to  us  in 
the  Constitutions,  that  little  weight  can  be  attached 
thereto. 

Probably  Chrysostom  and  Augustine,  widely  differ- 
ing in  style  and  in  substance,  would  be  commonly 
regarded  as  the  best  preachers  of  their  age.     Both 

*  It  is  not  necessary  to  remind  most  readers  that  these  literary 
remains  are  not  of  the  Apostles,  though  ostentatiously  claiming 
to  be,  describing  the  "  Acts  of  the  Apostles,"  as  "  our  Acts." 
Bunsen  thinks  they  reflect  the  life  of  the  Church  of  the  second 
and  third  centuries.  The  translation  best  known  is  Whiston's. 
Believing  them  to  be  "  the  most  sacred  of  the  canonical  books 
of  the  New  Testament,"  he  has,  of  course,  given  them  an 
extremely  rubrical  tone,  such  as  would  delight  the  heart  of  a 
very  High-Churchman,  if,  indeed,  they  did  not  sometimes  go  too 
far,  as  in  inculcating  the  kiss  as  a  part  of  the  service.  In  all 
likelihood  it  will  be  found  that  an  early  directory  for  worship 
has  been  interpolated  to  suit  the  condition  of  things  growing  up 
in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  when  "priest,"  "sacrifice," 
and  even  a  peculiar  dress  for  the  deacon  were  familiar  to  the 
Christians.     See  Book  II.,  §  VII.,  ch.  58. 


152  ^  WILDERNESS. 

were  expository.  Both  prepared  carefully  at  home. 
Both  spoke  to  the  people.  Augustine  could  never 
have  preached  ten  sermons  in  five  days,  as  he  fre- 
quently did,  on  any  other  plan.  Both  were  careful  in 
their  exegesis,  with  such  appliances  as  they  enjoyed. 
Both  reached  at  once  the  most  cultivated  and  the 
most  common  intellects.  Both  made  the  basis  of 
their  teaching  Scriptural,  and  both  were  able  to  effect 
in  their  mode  of  working  much  more,  as  far  as  we  can 
see,  than  in  our  modern  methods  of  sermoni^i^ing. 

The  era  of  th6  Middle  Ages  is,  as  far  as  preaching  is 
concerned,  a  wilderness  resounding  with  the  cries  of 
sacerdotal  parrots,  and  relieved  only  by  the  monkey- 
tricks  of  fanatical  friars.  ISTo  language  compatible 
with  conventional  propriety  could  describe  the  deg- 
radation of  that  time.  E'o  wonder  that  Luther,  who 
broke  through  and  broke  up  this  state  of  things,  is 
sometimes  harsh  and  coarse.  The  wonder  is,  that  he 
is  so  measured. 

But  to  the  point  immediately  in  hand.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  tlie  greatest  preachers  of  Ger- 
many were  expository,  and  were  speakers,  not  read- 
ers. The  same  is  true  of  the  French,  the  Scottish, 
the  English  pulpit,  even  in  its  two  sections — Non- 


MODERN  MASTERS.  153 

Conformist  and  Episcopal.  Hooker  did  not  read. 
The  great  Puritans  spoke  after  careful  preparation ; 
so  did  the  early  fathers  of  the  Kew  England 
churches,*  as  a  rule.  The  same  is  true  of  the  great 
masters  of  pulpit  eloquence  nearer  to  our  own  time, 
such  as  John  M.  Mason,  of  this  country,  and  Robert 
Hall,  of  England.  They  broke  away  from  the  cold, 
philosophic  matter,  and  the  neat  moralities  appropri- 
ately dressed  in  blameless  English',  of  which  Paley 
and  Blair  were  the  types.  I  have  not  so  high  an 
estimate  of  Frederick  Robertson  as  a  teacher,  as  many 
others ;  but  his  attractiveness  as  a  preacher  was  great. 
His  sermons,  like  the  late  Dr.  Guthrie's  and  Mr. 
Spurgeon's,  were  spoken  after  careful,  though  (in  his 
case)  not  written  preparation.  It  w^ould  be  unfair  to 
omit,  on  the  other  side,  that  Chalmers  read,  and 
Can-dlish,  for  the  most  part. 

When  I  had  no  more  idea  of  being  in  the  pulpit 
of  Dr.  James  W.   Alexander  than  of  beino;  in  the 


*  From  a  valuable  painting  in  tlie  possession  of  R.  L.  Stuart, 
Esq.,  of  New  York,  presumably  accurate,  they  also  wore  gown 
and  bands,  and  that  when  they  walked  to  church  in  the  wilder- 
ness, guarded  by  armed  men,  each  carrying  his  firelock  and  his 
Bible. 


154  DR.  JAMES  W.  ALEXANDER. 

Cabinet,  I  procured  his  Thoughts  on  Preaching.  The 
following  passage,  commending,  as  the  result  of 
thought,  the  plan  on  which,  substantially,  I  had  been 
working,  without  any  thought,  aiForded  me  immense 
encouragement : 

"  If  you  press  me  to  say  which  is  absolutely  the  best 
practice  in  regard  to  '  notes,'  properly  so  called,  that 
is,  in  distinction  from  a  complete  manuscript,  I  un- 
hesitatingly say,  USE  NONE.  Carry  no  scrap  of  writing 
into  the  pulpit.  Let  your  scheme,  with  all  its  branches, 
be  written  on  your  mental  tablet.  The  practice  will 
be  invaluable.  I  know  a  public  speaker  about  my  age 
who  has  never  employed  a  note  of  any  kind.  But 
while  this  is  a  counsel  for  which,  if  you  follow  it,  you 
will  thank  me  as  long  as  you  live,  I  am  pretty  sure 
you  have  not  courage  and  self-denial  to  make  the  ven- 
ture. And  I  admit  that  some  great  preachers  have 
been  less  vigorous.  The  late  Mr.  Wirt,  himself  one 
of  the  most  classical  and  brilliant  extempore  orators  of 
America,  used  to  speak  in  admiration  of  his  pastor, 
the  beloved  Nevins,  of  Baltimore.  Kow,  having 
often  counseled  with  this  eloquent  clergyman,  I  hap- 
pen to  know  that  while  his  morning  discourses  were 
committed  to  memory,  his  afternoon  discourses  were 


LET  THE  WORDS  ALONE.  I55 

from  a  '  brief.'  A  greater  orator  than  either,  who 
was  at  the  same  time  a  friend  of  both,  thus  advised  a 
young  preacher:  'In  your  case,'  said  Summerfield, 
'  I  would  recommend  the  choice  of  a  companion  or 
two,  with  whom  you  could  accustom  yourself  to  open 
and  amplify  your  thoughts  on  a  portion  of  the  word 
of  God  in  the  way  of  lecture.  '  Choose  a  copious  sub- 
ject, and  be  not  anxious  to  say  all  that  might  be  said. 
Let  your  efforts  be  aimed  a-t  giving  a  strong  outline ; 
the  filling-up  will  be  much  more  easily  attained. 
Prepare  a  skeleton  of  your  leading  ideas,  branching 
them  off  into  their  secondary  relations.  This  you 
may  have  before  you.  Digest  well  the  subject,  but 
be  not  careful  to  choose  your  words  previous  to  your 
delivery.  Follow  out  the  idea  with  such  language  as 
may  offer  at  the  moment.  Don't  be  discouraged  if 
you  fall  down  a  hundred  times  ;  for  though  you  fall 
you  shall  rise  again ;  and  cheer  yourself  with  the 
prophet's  challenge,  "  Who  hath  despised  the  day  of 
small  things?"'  If  any  words  of  mine  could  be 
needed  to  reinforce  the  opinion  of  the  most  enchant- 
ing speaker  I  ever  heard,  I  should  employ  them  in 
fixing  in  your  mind  the  counsel  not  to  prepare  your 
words.     Certain  preachers,  by  a  powerful  and    con- 


156  ''MIND  IN  A  LIBRATION" 

straining  discipline,  have  acquired  the  faculty  of  men- 
tally rehearsing  the  entire  discourse  which  they  were 
to  deliver,  with  almost  the  precise  language.  This  is 
manifestly  no  more  extemporaneous  preaching  than  if 
they  had  written  down  every  word  in  a  book.  It  is 
almost  identical  with  what  is  called  memoriter  preach- 
ing. But  if  you  would  avail  yourself  of  the  plastic 
power  of  excitement  in  a  great  assembly  to  create  for 
the  gushing  thought  a  mold  of  fitting  diction,  you 
will  not  spend  a  moment  on  the  words,  following 
Horace : 

'  Verbaque  provisam  rem  non  invita  sequentur. 
"  ]^othing  more  effectually  ruffles  that  composure 
of  mind  which  the  preacher  needs,  than  to  have  a 
disjointed  train  of  half -remembered  words  floating  in 
the  mind.  For  which  reason  few  persons  have  ever  been 
successful  in  a  certain  method  which  I  have  seen  pi*o- 
posed,  to  wit :  that  the  young  speaker  should  prepare 
his  manuscript,  give  it  a  thorough  reading  beforehand, 
and  then  preach  with  a  general  recollection  of  its 
contents.  The  result  is  that  the  mind  is  in  a  libration 
and  pother,  betwixt  the  word  in  the  paper  and  the 
probably  better  woi'd  which  comes  to  the  tip  of  the 
tongue.     Generally  speaking,  the  best  possible  woi'd 


"LIKE  A  MEETING  MINISTER."  157 

ig  the  one  which  is  born  of  the  thought  in  the  presence 
of  the  assembly.  And  the  less  jou  think  about  words 
as  a  separate  affair,  the  better  they  will  be.-  My  sed 
ulous  endeavor  is  then  to  carry  your  attention  back 
to  the  great  earnest  business  of  conveying  God's  mes- 
sage to  the  soul ;  being  convinced  that  here  as  else- 
where the  seeking  of  God's  kingdom  and  righteous- 
ness will  best  secure  subordinate  matters." 

I  only  add  that  the  estimates  of  the  relative  values 
of  plans  must  vary  with  education  and  habit.  "When 
the  author  of  the  "  Burial  of  Sir  John  Moore  "  was  a 
curate  in  a  small  parish  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  the 
Presbyterians  used  to  hear  him  with  pleasure  in  the 
evening,  their  highest  commendation  of  him  being  that 
"  he  preached  like  a  meeting  minister."  On  the  other 
hand,  in  many  places  of  New  England  and  America 
generally,  a  man  is  not  thought  worth  hearing  who 
does  not  read  his  sermon.  Could  a  compromise  be 
effected  on  the  plan  suggested  in  the  following  anec- 
dote ?  A  leadi^^g  Welsh  minister — and  Welsh  min- 
isters are,  I  think,  among  the  best  preachers — was 
invited  to  preach  an  anniversary  sermon  before  one 
of  the  great  societies  in  London.  Naturally  anxious 
to  disregard  no  propriety,  he   consulted    the  proper 


158  WELSH  FIRE. 

authority,  the  seoretaiy.  "  Should  I  read  my  ser- 
mon ? "  "  Oh,  it  is  no  matter ;  only  bring  some 
of  your  "Welsh  fire  with  you."  "  But  you  cannot,  my 
dear  sir,  carry  fire  in  paper."  "  No,  that  is  true ;  but 
you  may  use  the  paper  to  kindle  the  fire ! " 


LECTURE   VII. 


We  have  now  reached  the  point  where  we  can  raise 
the  question,  What,  practically,  are  the  characteristics 
of  a  ^ood  sermon  ?  Then  we  shall  be  able  to  gener- 
alize and  speak  of  good  preaching  in  a  continuous 
pastoral  work.  It  will  be  impossible  to  escape  glanc- 
ing at  some  ideas  already  presented  ;  but  they  rise  to 
our  view  here,  if  they  rise  at  all,  in  new  and  in  quite 
necessary  connections. 

The  first  requisite  to  a  good  sermon  is  that  it  he 
true.  We  can  get  falsehood  enough,  without  employ- 
ing preachers  to  proclaim  it.  The  devil  rules  the 
world  by  lies.  A  sermon  should  be  like  a  man,  with 
a  body,  soul,  and  spirit  in  it.  The  body  of  it  ought 
to  be  truth.  Nor  is  a  sermon  good  simply  because 
it  is  abstract  truth.  It  must  be  religious  truth, 
truth  deriving  its  force  and  sanctions  from  the  Bible. 
The  ethical  writers  have  provided  for  us  an  immense 
body  of  truth,  and  extremely  important  truth,  which 


^ 


160  ^  UTHORITY  OF  THE  WORD. 

no  wise  preacher  will  disregard.  But,  as  a  preacher, 
he  is  to  rest  his  plea  on  Divine  revelation.  Many 
forcible  and  conclusive  arguments  can  be  nrged  from 
the  moralists  against  fraud  and  lying,  for  example. 
The  Christian  preacher  starts  almost  where  they 
leave  off  when  he  announces  the  eighth  and  ninth 
commandments  in  form,  or  in  some  of  the  many 
scriptures  in  which  their  substance  is  declared. 
Here  is  the  commanding  elevation  on  which  a 
preacher  stands  above  all  other  speakers  to  men. 
They  rely  for  cogency  and  authority  on  the  clearness 
or  the  beauty  in  which  they  can  set  their  points,  and 
the  closeness  with  which  they  can  bring  them  home 
to  men.  But  a  true  preacher  has  no  sooner  made  the 
people  feel  "thus  saith  the  Lord,"  than  he  has 
secured  authority  and  cogency.  While  a  man  says, 
"  I  think,"  his  thought  is  to  be  measured  by  himself. 
It  is  as  he  is.  When  he  declares,  and  with  recognized 
truth,  "  the  Lord  says,"  men's  minds  are  withdrawn 
from  him ;  it  is  with  the  Lord  they  have  to  do.  Gen- 
tlemen, you  will  sometimes  feel  your  "  presence  weak 
and  your  speech  contemptible,"  as  you  preach.  The 
people  will  sometimes,  perhaps,  look  at  you,  as  if 
inquiring  by  what  right  you  claimed  their  attention. 


DOUBTFUL  DISPUTATIONS.  161 

As  soon  as  it  is  possible,  get  yourself  out  of  view  alto- 
gether, and  let  the  truth  of  God  come  forth  to  shine 
in  its  own  brightness.  Tiiis  disarms  criticism,  com- 
pels attention,  and  secures  body  to  your  sermon. 

Settle  it  in  your  mind,  that  no  sermon  is  worth 
much  in  which  the  Lord  is  not  the  principal  speaker. 
There  may  be  poetry,  refinement,  historic  truth,  moral 
truth,  pathos,  and  all  the  charms  of  rhetoric  ;  but  all 
will  be  lost,  for  the  purposes  of  preaching,  if  the  word 
of  the  Lord  is  not  the  staple  of  the  discourse ;  and 
the  preacher  will  be  little  better  than  the  wicked,  of 
whom  it  is  te.stitied  that  "  God  is  not  in  all  their 
thoughts." 

2.  It  must  be  approjpriate  truth,  having  the  proper 
relation  to  the  people  who  hear  it,  and  to  their 
circumstances.  There  are  ancient  heresies,  for  the 
refutation  of  which  the  Bible  contains  the  materials, 
but  it  would  be  idle  to  labor  on  the  setting  forth 
of  the  refutation  where  no  one  is  troubled,  or  likely 
to  be,  with  the  heresy.  There  are  hard  questions,  like 
tlie  tripartite  nature  of  man,  or  the  characteristics  of 
Hades,  on  which  the  Bible  has  something  to  say,  but 
their  discussion  before  a  village  congregation  of  plain 
people   would  be   useless.     The   circumstances  of  a 


162  WORDS  IN  SEASON. 

congregation  may  demand,  and  to  a  sympathetic 
mind  would  suggest,  the  right  kind  of  theme.  It  is  the 
Communion-Sabbath,  for  example.  The  sermon  is  a 
discussion  of  the  law  of  tithes.  It  is  an  important 
law,  and  the  sermon  may  be  most  true,  but  it 
is  a  right  thing  in  the  wrong  place.  The  death 
of  a  pastor  much  beloved  produces  a  deep  feeling  of 
solemnity  among  the  bereaved  people.  How  entirely 
an  elaborate  sermon  on  an  important  theme  like  the 
breadth  of  God's  law  may  be  thrown  away,  where  a 
simple,  earnest,  affectionate  word,  from  such  a 
text  as  a  minister  desired  to  be  laid  on  his  bosom 
in  his  coffin,  "Remember  the  word  which  I  spake 
unto  you,"  that  his  people  might  read  it,  or  a 
plea  for  Him  who  died  once  and  dieth  no  more, 
might  reach  all  hearts.  A  nice  instinct — the  product 
of  thought,  sympathy,  knowledge  of  human  nature, 
and  prayer — ought  to  guide  in  selecting  the  theme. 
If  you  have  chosen  well,  your  work  is  half  done  when 
you  have  read  your  text.  Every  one  feels  that  you 
understand  the  situation,  in  some  sense  understand 
him.  He  is  prepared  to  listen,  and  puts  his  mind  in 
the  attentive  attitude :  the  fault  will  be  yours  if 
you  lose  your  advantage.     On  the  other  hand,  a  re- 


AGAINST  TEE  STREAM.  163 

mote  and  inappropriate  topic  vexes ;  produces  a  jar ; 
is  regarded  as  a  kind  of  impertinence-  You  are  row- 
ing against  the  stream  ;  your  sermon  will  be  in  a 
great  measure  thrown  away.  .  When  a  man  goes  to  a 
place  on  Saturday  night  and  finds  his  sermon  out  of 
all  relations  to  the  people,  he  had  better  put  it  in  his 
bag,  shut  himself  up,  and  write  out  what,  if  he  were 
in  their  place,  he  would  feel  suited  him,  and  preach 
that.  For  all  the  purposes  of  a  sermon,  it  will  be 
more  successful  than  his  best  effort  that  lies  outside 
their  horizon. 

Here,  I  need  not  tell  you,  comes  to  the  minis- 
ter's aid  his  thorough  acquaintance  with  his  people. 
He  feels  with  them.  Their  hearts  throb,  in  a  meas- 
ure, against  his  bosom.  He  knows  their  needs,  and, 
though  his  manner  may  be  unpretending  and  his 
message  simple  and  unadorned,  it  suits  them,  as  cold 
water  the  thirsty. 

•  The  man  who  studies  fitness  above  all  else,  will 
have  great  help  given  him  in  complying  with 
rhetorical  canons.  He  will  be  instructive.  The  people 
need  to  know  something  just  then.  They  want  to  be 
told  how  they  ought  to  think  and  feel.  He  tells  them 
from  the  Word.     In  his  eagerness  to  do  this  he  is 


164  LOOKING  RIGHT  ON. 

textually  faithful.  He  desires  to  reflect  its  meaning. 
He  is  teaching  from  the  Word.  More  than  mere  natu- 
ral and  legitimate  curiosity  influences  them.  They 
wish  direction  on  a  particular  matter.  He  is  bent  ou 
giving  it.  He  is  not  drawn  aside  for  the  sake  of  some 
vivid  bit  of  word-painting  that  could  be  brought  in, 
or  the  presentation  of  some  new  and  original  specula- 
tion. He  is  not  careful  whether  they  count  him 
intellectual  or  not.  They  need,  and  he  has,  ideas ; 
and  he  gives  them,  on  one  matter.  This  secures 
unity  in  his  discourse,  ^wifidelity  to  the  text,  instriiGtr- 
iveiiess,  and  unity ^  have  always  been  placed  iii  the 
forefront  among  the  constituent  elements  of  a  good 
sermon. 

3.  It  must  be  truth,  taught  for  the  purposes  of  the 
truth.  God  has  revealed  ideas  for  certain  definite  ends. 
A  good  preacher  sets  them  forth  for  these  ends.  He 
proclaims  that  law  which  is  holy,  for  the  awakening 
of  sinners  and  the  guiding  of  the  lives  of  believers. 
He  lifts  up  Christ  for  the  sake  of  attracting  lost  souls 
to  the  cross.  This  banishes  subtle,  treacherous,  arro- 
gant, proud,  rebellious  self.  I  have  a  good  sermon, 
let  me  suppose,  on  the  happiness  of  heaven.  It  pleases 
me,  and  mainly  because  it  does,  and  is  likely  to  make 


FORBEARING  THREATENING.  165 

a,  good  impression  in  my  favor,  I  preacli  it.  Can 
I  expect  the  blessing,  as  if  I  had  reverently  asked 
what  these  souls  most  needed  among  God's  gifts, 
and  had  decided  to  show  it  to  them,  no  matter  what 
they  thought  of  me  ? 

This  idea  might  be  expressed  in  another  way. 
Truth  should  be  uttered  in  a  right  spirit.  A 
man  may  set  out  the  doom  of  the  wicked  irt  a  tone 
of  human  threatening  and  bravado,  as  though  he 
said,  "  This  is  what  you  will  come  to  for  disregarding 
rmj  advice,  and  you  well  deserve  it."  This  is  enough 
to  mar  the  truest  sermon.  A  vitiating  element  goes 
with  every  sentence,  when  once  the  impression  has 
been  made  that  the  preacher  is  vexed  that  men  do 
not  believe  liim.  My  brethren,  remember  two  words 
spoken  to  masters  (and  the  reason  of  them  applies  to 
you),  "  forbearing  threatening,  knowing  that  your 
Master  also  is  in  heaven. "  I  know  the  sanctions  of 
God's  law  are  to  be  proclaimed.  If  any  are  silent 
regarding  them,  I  am  sorry  for  them  and  for  their 
people.  But  I  also  know  that  the  first  place  in 
which  the  terrors  of  the  Lord  are  to  make  their 
impression  is  on  the  heart  of  the  preacher,  and 
that   their  true    effect   there   is   to    make  him  not 


166  THE  REDEEMER'S  TEARS. 

terrible,  or  terrific,  but  tender  and  persuasive. 
"  Knowing,  therefore,  the  terror  of  the  Lord,"  the 
holiness  of  his  law,  the  strictness  of  his  justice, 
the  ineradicable  hatred  with  which  he  regards  sin, 
the  awfiilness  of  being  under  his  wrath,  the  fear- 
fulness  of  falling  as  rebels  into  his  hands — knowing 
these  things  from  his  word,  "we  persuade  men." 
Let  us  remember,  when  we  fling  around  with  an 
unholy,  brawling  flippancy  the  awful  denunciations  of 
"  tribulation  and  anguish,"  that  we  may  be  anticipat- 
ing the  sentence  of  those  dearest  to  us,  not  to  say  our 
own.  Let  these  truths  be  preached  as  fully  as  they 
are  stated  in  the  Bible,  but  with  tenderness,  with 
indescribable  pity,  with  tears,  such  as  Jesus  shed  over 
doomed  Jerusalem.* 


*  A  friend  wrote  me  lately  that  he  had  heard  the  late  Canon 
Kingsley  preach  in  Westminster  Abbey  a  sermon  of  peculiarly 
solemn  and  tender  interest.     My  friend  says : 

"  I  do  not  know  whether  that  was  the  last  sermon  ever  he 
delivered,  but  it  might  well  have  been.  Had  he  known  it  was 
almost  the  last  message  from  heaven  to  man  that  he  was  to 
deliver  I  do  notihink  he  would  have  wished  to  change  one  word 
of  it.  His  subject  was  Christ  weeping  over  Jerusalem,  and  the 
particular  passage,  '  but  ye  would  not,'  the  whole  being  a  prac- 
tical application  of  the  ineffable  love  of  God  to  man,  and  deliv- 


"SPEAK  WELL."  167 

4.  It  should  sustain  the  attention.  Profit  ends 
when  weariness  hegins.  Not  only  so,  but  vexation 
with  the  preacher  is  apt  to  commence  also.  Kow, 
attention  is  sustained  by  many  forces  in  harmonious 
combination.  If  the  voice  be  too  low  and  indis- 
tinct the  ear  grows  tired  in  catching  the  words. 
If  it  be  occasionally  loud  and  rough,  the  ear  is 
offended,  as  is  the  eye  with  grotesque,  awkward, 
or  constrained  action.  If  the  words  come  too 
rapidly  the  sense  is  confused  :  if  very  slowly,  like 
minute-guns  at  sea,  the  hearer  grows  impatient. 
A  dull  monotone  is  soporific :  so  is  a  continu- 
ous shout.  There  ought  to  be  naturalness  in  the 
voice,  and  along  with  that  periods  of  repose. 
Then  there  is  room  for  emphasis,  for  expression, 
for  variety  of   modulation.     Otherwise  Pope's  lines 

ered  in  the  most  simple,  but  tender  and  touching  language 
I  ever  heard, 

"  We  were  only  sorry  when  he  concluded,  although  he 
preached  a  long  sermon.  He  said  that  it  might  be  the  last  time 
some  of  those  there  might  hear  his  voice." 

Who  of  us  can  tell  when  he  is  preaching  his  last  sermon  ? 
Charles  Kingsley,  in  earlier  years,  lacked  the  power  that  comes 
from  clear,  definite  conviction  as  to  the  one  way  of  life  ;  but  he 
had  even  then  many  of  the  elements  that  make  a  great  man  and 
a  great  preaclier. 


168  riVACITF  OF  STYLE. 

on     commonplace    versification     are    likelj    to    be 
made  good  : 

"  If  crystal  streams  '  with  pleasing  murmurs  creep,' 
Tlae  hearer's  threatened — not  in  vain — with  sleep." 

But  tlie  eomposifion  may  be  monotonous,  un- 
broken by  incident,  anecdote,  or  appeal,  the  ca- 
dences of  sentences  constructed  on  one  model, 
rising  and  falling  with  a  painful  regularity.  This 
should  be  guarded  against.  Vivacity  of  style  is 
attainable,  and  applicable  to  any  subject.  He  who 
spake  in  parables,  who  laid  the  birds,  the  lilies, 
the  vines,  the  mustard-plant,  the  children  under 
contribution  for  His  discourses — His  who  "  spake 
as  never  man  spake "  —  surely  sets  an  example 
to  lis  as  teachers.  Language  is  singularly  pliable, 
and  its  graces  are  appreciated  even  by  the  rude. 
The  taste  is  not  always  correct.  Indeed,  taste 
itself  is  a  variable  element.  Hervey's  Meditations 
among  the  Tombs  had,  and  still  have,  admirers. 
Jeremy  Taylor,  I  know,  has  been  extolled  greatly, 
yet  I  have  never  felt  the  charm  of  his  prose- 
poetry.  Edward  Irving  has  been  regarded  most 
favorably   by   many,   yet   his    style   has   seemed   to 


IfO  8TAGE-TRIGK8.  169 

me  stilted  and  affected.  Yet  I  am  sure,  had  I 
listened  to  any  one  of  the  three  great  men,  I 
should  have  been  made  and  kept  attentive  by 
the  departure  of  the  style  from  what  is  common- 
place and  indolent.  I  should  have  felt  that  each 
was  trying  to  speak  so  that  it  would  be  agree- 
able to  me  to  hear.  So  much  we  owe  to  our 
hearers.  The  effbrt  is  not  incompatible  with  sim- 
plicity, force,   and  freedom   from   affectation. 

There  should  be  manliness  both  in  composition 
and  delivery.  Any  trick  obviously  meant  to  startle ; 
any  attempt  at  stage-effect ;  any  small  device  that 
might  be  proper  enough  in  an  after-dinner  speech 
is  felt  to  be  unworthy  the  pulpit,  and  is  con- 
demned by  good  taste.  Manliness  implies  straight- 
forward simplicity,  appreciation  of  the  truths  pre- 
sented, and  superiority  to  theatrical  expedients. 
Many  of  the  stories  retailed  in  gossiping  re- 
ports regarding  eminent  men  are  either  colored 
or  exaggerated ;  but  there  are  well-authenticated 
accounts  of  great  men  descending  to  small  shifts 
of  ingenuity  which  you  and  I  had  better  not 
imitate,  and  which  even  they  could  not  have  used 
often  with  success.  For  a  certain  gravity  is  ex- 
8 


170  C^RA  VE  WITH  ORA  VE  MATTERS 

pected,  tliroiigli  a  right  human  instinct,  in  minis- 
ters. Not  that  the  particular  attitude  of  the  facial 
muscles  is  of  any  spiritual  significance,  one  way 
or  other ;  but  men  feel  that  while  we  are  hand- 
ling grave  and  most  serious  matters  we  ought  to 
be  serious.  Did  you  ever  see  the  pilot  take  a 
ship  through  a  perilous  passage  ?  He  is  grave. 
I  have  seen  the  surgeon's  knife  drawn  round  the 
limb  where  an  error  of  an  inch  would  have  been 
a  terrible  mistake.  He  was  grave.  I  have  heard,  a 
conscientious  judge  weigh  and  set  out  in  the  ut- 
most fullness  the  evidence  in  a  murder  case,  as 
earnestly  bent  on  putting  eyei'ything  fairly  as  if 
his  own  life  depended  on  the  issue.  Any  levity 
here  would  be  out  of  place ;  and,  on  the  same 
principle,  by  the  average  of  mankind,  gravity  will 
be  looked  for  in  us  who  deal  with  matters  of 
life  and  death,  and  speak  for  God.  That  we  have 
laughing  muscles  in  the  face  is  prhna  facie  evi- 
dence that  we  are  at  liberty  to  laugh  sometimes ; 
but  we  have  a  great  many  muscles  that  have  no 
special  relation  to  preaching.  All  the  power  we 
gain  by  appeals  to  the  risible  faculties,  we  are 
likely  to   lose   in    other  directions.     Our  attractive- 


HEART  AND  TONGUE.  171 

ness,  then,  had  better  depend  on  clearness  of  enun- 
ciation and  style,  on  natural  grace  of  expression,  on 
manliness,  force,  gnd  sufScient  rapidity  of  movement, 
and  on  vehemence  not  out  of  proportion  to  the 
temper  and  tone  of  the  matter  we  utter.  The  best 
preacher  will  be  apt  to  suggest  the  language  of  the 
Psalm,  "  My  heart  was  not  within  me,  while  I  was 
musing  the  fire  burned  :  then  spake  I  with  my  tongue." 
5.  Good  preaching  should  be  persuasive.  The 
motives,  pleas,  arguments,  and  appeals  of  the  Bible 
should  be  presented  in  such  a  way  as  to  lead 
men  to  move  in  the  desired  direction.  Young 
preachers  expect  that  reasons  so  cogent  as  they 
can  state  will  command  the  assent  and  correspond- 
ing action  of  men.  But,  in  point  of  fact,  men 
are  not  thus  uniformly  moved.  Men  must  be  not 
only  reasoned  with,  but  convinced  of  your  good 
will  toward  them.  They  have  to  be  conciliated 
to  unpalatable  truth.  The  tone  of  the  voice,  the 
expression  of  face,  the  attitude  of  deference,  or 
of  imperious  authority  assumed  toward  them — 
all  these  have  their  influence.  A  remorseless 
logic,  clear  and  iiTesistible  by  a  logician,  will  be 
set    at     defiance    by   many    a    human    heart    that 


172  •       "  DEAR  HEARERS." 

%vould  be  influenced  by  a  tone  of  tenderness  in 
the  voice,  or  a  tear  in  the  eye.  Not  that  the 
tears  are  to  supersede  the  argument,  but  to  ac- 
company it,  and  carry  its  force  from  the  head  to 
the  heart.  You  may  hear  men  preach  where  they 
seem  to  pierce,  crush,  and  trample  upon  their  op- 
ponents ;  and  they  make  every  hearer  an  opponent. 
Indignation,  scorn,  sarcasm,  ridicule,  all  come  into 
play ;  and  the  preacher,  having  it  all  his  own  way. 
treats  himseK  to  a  triumph  at  the  close.  This 
is  not  persuasive.  It  lacks  the  lirst  elements  of 
true  preaching.  We  should  never  assume  hos- 
tility to  us,  or  our  views,  on  the  part  of  our 
hearers.  By  their  being  in  the  house  of  God, 
and  reverently  and  respectfully  listening  to  us,  His 
ministers,  they  give  us  the  right  to  assume  that 
they  are  not  opponents  but  inquirers,  not  dis- 
putants but  pupils.  Let  us  treat  them  as  learners, 
keep  them  as  much  as  possible  from  the  attitude  of 
opposition,  and  carry  them  along  without  remind- 
ing them  needlessly  how  much  of  their  previous 
thinking   we   have    beaten   down.*      Let   us    study 

*  The  principle  of  this  may  be  sometimes  acted  upon  with 
advantage  in  intercourse  with  the  members  of  a  congregation. 


AN  OLD  MASTER.  1Y3 

His  example  who  "  reasoned  in  the  Synagogue 
every  Sabbath,  and  persuaded  the  Jews  and  the 
Greeks P     (Acts  xviii.  4.) 

How  often  has  the  method  of  that  great  master  of 
pulpit  eloquence,  at  Athens,  been  noticed  and  ap- 
plauded. He  begins  with  the  facts  lying  around — 
the  statues  of  the  gods,  the  altars,  the  sacrifices.  He 
even  utters  a  word  of  commendation,  of  which  our 
English  version  missed  the  point,  making  it  "  too 
superstitious."  "  I  perceive  that  you  are  very  re- 
ligious," "Devout  to  excess"  is  Lewin's  render- 
ing of  the  word,  dsiffideijxovsfftipovz.  They  were 
proud  of  their  religiousness.*  Instead  of  being  hurt 
by  the  allusion,  they  feel  complimented.  The  men 
who  politely  said  to    him,    "  May    we    know  what 

Almost  every  community  contains  persons  who  are  "  nothing  if 
not  critical."  Their  importance  lies  in  their  peculiar  ideas.  They 
are  delighted  to  give  the  new  minister  their  "  views."  The 
young  minister  will  be  wise  to  evade  the  interview.  Do  not  let 
these  men  commit  themselves  to  their  positions.  Do  not  even 
hear,  from  them,  their  opinions.  If  you  do,  their  self-love  will 
set  down  half  your  teaching  to  the  effort  at  refutation.  Let 
them  hear  you,  and  possibly  learn. 

*  See  Lewin's  Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  Vol.  I.,  p.  263  (note). 
This  beautiful  work  throws  much  light  on  the  apostle's  jour- 
neys, and  is  worthy  of  careful  examination. 


1Y4  LIGHT  AND  Love. 

this  new  doctrine,  "thereof  thou  speakest,  is  ? "  are 
not  thrown  off  and  repelled  by  any  contemptuous  al- 
lusion ;  nor  is  the  attention  fixed  on  any  arguments 
but  such  as  the  hearers  might  be  expected  to  appre- 
ciate and  understand.  "  One  of  their  own  poets  "  is 
gracefully  introduced,  and  the  whole  surroundings  of 
a  judicial  court  suggest  to  the  speaker  the  impressive 
closing  announcement  of  a  final  judgment,  assured  to 
all  men  by  the  raising  of  the  Saviour  from  the  dead. 
So  when  King  Agrippa  owns  the  force  of  Paul's  ap- 
peal it  is,  "  Almost  thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian." So,  gentlemen,  in  your  preaching  aim  not 
only  at  showing  abundance  of  "  dry  light ;  "  let  there 
be  also  the  glow  of  affectionate  interest  that  gives 
persuasive  power.  Let  there  be  not  body  only,  but 
also  heart. 

6.  The  sermon  ought  to  be  evangelical  through 
and  through,  in  body,  soul  and  spirit.  The  word 
evangelical,  in  so  far  as  it  marks  a  party,  I  am 
sorry  to  employ.  I  use  it  here  to  mean  full  of  the  gos- 
pel of  Jesus  Christ.  We  are  His  messengers.  What 
shall  we  do  but  deliver  His  message  ?  It  would  be 
strange,  indeed,  if  the  thoughts  and  words  and  tone  of 
the  Master  did  not  appear  in  what  we  His  servants 


"  IN  THE  FACE  OF  JESUS."  175 

say  and  do.  We  are  to  enlighten  men.  lie  is  the 
light  of  life.  We  are  to  comfort  men.  He  fnrnislies 
the  comforts.  We  are  to  show  men  salvation.  He 
is  the  Saviour.  We  are  to  strengthen  men.  He  is 
their  strength.  We  are  to  encourage  men  to  holy 
obedience.  He  is  the  source  of  motive,  of  strength, 
of  courage,  and  He  is  the  perfect  example.  We  are 
to  guide  men  to  the  Father.  He  is  the  mediator. 
We  are  to  show  aliens  how  reconciliation  is  to  be  ef- 
fected. •  He  is  the  way.  All  out  of  Him  are  out  of 
the  way.  He  is  the  truth.  To  be  out  of  Him  is  to 
be  in  deadly  error.  He  is  the  life.  To  be  out  of 
Him  is  to  continue  "  dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sins." 
*'Ko  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  b}^  Him." 
And  when  the  Father  would  give  men  the  light  of ' 
the  knowledge  of  His  glory,  how  does  He  proceed  ? 
Why  (2  Cor.  iv.  6),  He  shines  into  their  hearts.  And 
how  ?  To  what  does  He  turn  men's  gaze  ?  Not  to 
His  mighty  works ;  not  to  creative  or  providential 
wonders ;  not  to  geological  or  astronomical  facts  ;  not 
to  the  data  on  whicih  Paley  and  Bell,  and  other  ad- 
mirable writers  build  up  their  argument  from  design  ; 
not  to  the  still  greater  wonders  of  mind,  but  to  "  the 
face   of   Jesus    Christ" — that   face   that   was   more 


1 76  THE  Bl  VmE  APPEAL. 

marred  tliat  any  man's ;  that  endnred  the  ruffian 
blows ;  down  which  the  blood-drops  trickled  ;  that 
looked  down  on  a  mocking  crowd  from  an  ignomini- 
ons  cross.  To  that  the  Father  points,  as  though  He 
said,  "Look  at  that  spectacle — ^my  Son,  my  holy,  in- 
nocent Son,  wonnded  for  yom-  transgressions,  braised 
for  yonr  iniquities.  See  in  Him  the  holiness  of  my 
law,  the  rigor  of  my  justice.  See  in  Him  the 
depth  and  tenderness  of  my  love.  Believe  the  love  I 
have  toward  you,  and  give  your  hearts  to  me,  in  Him." 
This  is  God's  method,  my  brethren.  It  is  childish 
to  inquire  can  we  have  any  better  ?  "We  have  no 
choice  about  it.  He  gives  you  and  me  the  gospel,  of 
which  Jesus  is  the  sum,  in  His  glorious  person.  His 
completed  work,  His  effectual  intercession,  and  He 
says  to  us,  "  Go  preach  the  preaching  that  I  bid  thee." 
Let  us  20  in  His  name  and  strenorth. 


LECTURE  VIII. 


A  LADY  friend  of  mine  tells  me  the  following  inci- 
dent :  A  young  lady,  who  was  placed  at  the  head  of 
a  house  before  she  had  become  a  good  housekeeper, 
had  to  order  dinner  for  her  husband  and  herself. 
She  had  chickens  for  dinner  the  first  day ;  the  next  a 
leg  of  mutton  ;  and  the  third  day,  naturally  desiring 
variety,  she  ordered  the  cook  to  have  a  leg  of  beef ! 
So  young  preachers,  not  yet  acquainted  practically 
with  their  materials  and  the  use  they  can  make  of 
them,  feel  the  need  of  freshness  and  novelty,  and  sac- 
rifice, utility  in  the  effort,  I  propose  to  devote  this 
hour  to  the  consideration  of  the  best  arrangement  and 
distribution  of  our  pulpit  resources.  If  in  anything 
my  views  seem  to  conflict  with  the  ideas  or  the  prac- 
tices of  other  brethren,  I  need  not  say  you  will  take 
them  for  what  they  are  worth,  and  remember  that  it 
is  by  comparison  of  reasons  and  of  experience  that 

we  reach  conclusions  of  practical  value. 
8* 


178  ^  PORTION  TO  EACH. 

(a)  H]iQYQhra.\x.Qh.Glass-j>reaching.  "Young men," 
"  the  aged,"  "  the  young,"  are  singled  out,  and  for- 
mallj  addressed.  The  division  is  sometimes  carried 
out  very  minutely,  and  I  have  known  ''young  vi^omen," 
"  the  married,"  and  "  the  single  "  specially  addressed. 
"  The  working  classes,"  are  often  so  specified  in  Great 
Britain,  A  friend  of  mine  heard  a  sermon  in  Ireland 
where  the  preacher  descanted  on  the  temptations  to 
which  men  are  liable.  He  divided  them  into  the 
"  temptations  to  the  upper  classes  "  and  the  "  tempt- 
ations to  the  lower  classes."  He  always  said  "  we  " 
and  "  om* "  under  the  first  head,  never  under  the 
second. 

I  have  some  doubt  of  the  wisdom  of  this  course, 
though  it  cannot  be  denied  that  good  and  able  men 
have  effected  much  on  such  plans.  But  then  they 
would  have  done  good  in  any  form  of  discussion  of 
the  truth  into  which  they  threw  their  thoughts  ;  and  it 
does  not  follow  that  this  way  is  wise  generally,  be- 
cause it  has  been  made  useful.  When  John  the  Bap- 
tist gave  directions  to  publicans  and  soldiers,  in  classes, 
it  was  at  their  own  request. 

In  the  first  place,  the  teaching  of  the  Scripture  is 
not  formally  distributed  in  this  way.     Every  person 


ALL  SCRIPTURE  FOR  ALL.  179 

has  the  strongest  inducement  to  read  the  wliole  Bible. 
The  whole  field  is  digged  by  the  sons  of  God,  in  the 
search  for  the  treasure  they  want ;  and  with  the  best 
results.  Nor  is  the  Scripture  in  any  gresCt  degree  a 
set  of  rules  or  rubrics,  like  the  by-laws  of  a  company, 
or  the  instructions  to  a  ship's  crew,  but  a  set  of  great 
dominant  principles,  to  be  received  into  the  heart, 
and  to  be  intelligently  applied  to  the  affairs  and  exi- 
gencies of  life.  The  application  exercises  and  strength- 
ens all  the  faculties.  In  the  finding,  digesting,  and 
living  out  of  truth,  the  whole  man  grows  up  in  the 
likeness  of  Christ.  The  maiden  does  not  find  her 
chapter  in  the  Bible  from  which  she  passes  away 
when  she  coraes  among  the  mothers,  to  find  her  new 
section  ready  for  her — but  the  whole  Bible  is  the 
common  heritage  of  mother  and  maiden. 

There  is  danger  of  impairing  habits  of  attention  on 
this  plan.  When  young  men  are  being  appealed  to 
other  classes  in  the  audience  will  easily  persuade 
themselves  that  they  may  be  absent,  or  less  attentive. 
It  is  desirable  to  keep  all  one's  hearers  alive  to  all 
that  is  being  said.  His  special  portion,  let  each  man 
feel,  may  come  in  the  next  sentence.  Lot  him  be  on 
the  look-out  for  it.     Give  him  no  intimation  that  he 


180  ENLIST  THE  MEN. 

is  not  concerned  here,  and  may  go  mentally  to 
repose. 

Besides,  the  tendency  is  already  great  enough  to 
hear — not  for  ourselves,  but — for  others.  My  obser- 
vation is,  that  a  sermon  to  young  men  in  an  ordinary 
church  does  not  increase  the  attendance  of  that  class 
in  any  noticeable  degree,  while  there  are  preachers 
whose  happiness  it  is  to  have  a  large,  even  a  pre- 
dominant, element  of  men — and  there  conld  be  no 
greater  happiness — in  habitual  attendance.  It  is  a 
thoroughly  inspiriting  thing  to  see  a  mass  of  those 
to  whom  you  can  emphatically  say,  "  Men  and 
brethren  ! "  I  think  we  should  aim  at  the  men.  Be 
manly,  vigorous,  courageous.  Reason  out  of  the 
Scriptures.  Put  the  hearers'  minds  to  work,  and 
bring  divine  truth  to  bear  on  manly  pursuits,  and  so 
clear  off  the  aspersion  that  religion  is  for  women  and 
children.  But  while  we  are  doing  this  with  such  effect 
as  to  bring  the  men,  the  women  and  children  will  not 
be  missing. 

It  may  seem  as  if  some  exception  might  be  made 
in  favor  of  preaching  to  children.  But,  as  the  years 
have  gone  on,  I  have  modified  my  own  views  of  that 
matter.      I  used  to  make  sermons  for  the  children 


CHILDREN  AT  THE  TABLE.  \^\ 

Bpecially,  constructed  and  illustrated  with  regard  to 
them ;  and  it  is  quite  true  that  the  seniors  usually 
gave  good  attention  to  them,  and  often  heard  with 
profit.  But  then  the  effect  on  the  children  is  to  be 
considered  when  your  ordinary  ministrations  are 
proceeding.  They  had  their  portion.  l!^ow  you  are 
talking  to  the  grown-up  people.  They  may  be  ex- 
cused from  listening  now.  I  think  the  wiser  way  is 
-  to  throw  in  every  day  a  bit  of  anecdote,  or  illustration 
that  will  suit  the  child-mind.  Give  no  intimation 
that  it  is  coming.  But  if  you  will  say,  "  The  children 
will  see,"  or  something  of  that  nature,  they  are  re- 
minded that  they  are  an  integral  portion  of  the  Con- 
gregation, and  they  get  the  habit  of  attending 
throughout.  After  the  children  get  out  of  the 
nursery,  I  suppose  in  most  families  they  get  their 
meals  at  table  with  father  and  mother,  hear  the  talk, 
and  learn  the  ways  of  life.  I  think  it  is  best  for  them 
to  be  similarly  •  treated  in  the  Church,  and  as  a  wise 
parent  will  do  the  carving  and  dividing  so  as  to  give 
the  children  what  is  fit  for  them,  so  a  wise  pastor 
will  give  to  them  their  milk  and  their  portion  of  meat, 
as  they  are  able  to  bear  it.  When  you  become 
pastors,  gentlemen,  aim  -at  bringing  the  children  to 


182  FACTITIOUS  INTEREST. 

Church  with  the  parents.  They  soon  learn  to  "  be- 
have themselves  in  the  House  of  God,"  and  no  stated 
service  is  all  that  it  ought  to  be  that  is  wholly  and 
entirely  without  adaptation  to  them.  It  will  be  a 
sad  abuse  of  a  great  blessing,  if  the  Sabbath-school 
shall  come  to  be  res^arded  as  the  sufficient  "  Chil- 
dren's  Church."  Let  us  teach  them  to  worship  God 
with  their  fathers;  let  them  be  witnesses  of  bap- 
tisms and  communions :  they  are  part  of  the  house- 
hold. 

(b)  Announced  preaching  I  do  not  regard  with  great 
favor.  A  man  has,  or  his  friends  feel  that  he  has, 
something  out  of  the  way  to  say,  and  he  looks  np  a 
smart  running  title,  and  gives  it  out,  or  the  news- 
paper does  for  him.  You  may  see  this  in  the  New 
York  newspapers  any  Saturday.  I  have  never 
thought  this  a  good  plan,  and  would  advise  my 
brethren  not  to  adopt  it.  It  is  regarded  as  a  confes- 
sion of  general  weakness.  Your  common  things,  it 
could  hardly  be  supposed,  would  attract ;  but  here  is 
a  sermon  on  "  the  iron  that  did  swim, "  or  the  "  little 
foxes,  "  or  Samson's  foxes,  or  "  Jehudi's  penknife,  " 
and  it  is  hoped  the  people  will  hear  you  thereon. 
And  when  there  is  no  announcement,  why,  of  course, 


COMPETITIVE  PREACnmO.  183 

the  fair  inference  is,  there  is  nothing  peculiar ;  nothing 
worth  hearing  ;  nothing  but  the  .gospel ! 

'Among  the  incidental  evals  of  this  announcing  sys- 
tem, is  the  effect  it  has  on  the  Christian  community. 
There  are  enough  of  gypsies  already,  unattached 
hearers,  who  "go  around  "  and  hear  the  most 
"  interesting "  preachers.  You  get  them  the  first 
time  you  are  "  announced,"  perhaps  the  second.  But 
meantime  your  neighbor,  or  his  deacons,  will  have 
taken  note  of  the  fact,  and  a  rival  announcement  is 
in  the  field.  You  get  out  Goliath;  he  proclaims 
Samson.  You  intimate  the  Royal  Dancing-Girl ; 
and  he  forthwith  produces  the  Witch  of  Endor,  and 
the  poor  uninstructed  owners  of  itching  ears  and 
vacant  minds  have  a  good  time,  and  persuade  them- 
selves they  are  talking  i-eligion  when  discussing  the 
relative  merits  of  the  performances.  Let  us  leave  all 
this  to  tlie  Lyceum,  the  Lecturing  Bureau,  and  the 
showmen.  Let  us  be  willing  to  go  down  as  low  as  is 
needed  to  lift  up  sinners  ;  but  it  is  we  that  are  to  go 
down.  This  is  to  drag  down  the  sacred  desk,  the 
office  of  the  ministry,  the  Bible  itself.  Competitive 
rowing  and  running,  and  competitive  oratory,  may 
be  well  enough  for  the  boys  in  school  and  college ; 


184:  "  OCCASIONAL  SERMONS." 

but  competitive  preaching  is  not  among  the  elevating 
forces  in  the  hand  of  the  Church.  And,  as  a  rule, 
the  least  instructed  hearers  are  those  who  have  "  heard 
everybody ! " 

(c)  Special  preaching,  as  a  general  rule,  costs  much 
and  yields  poor  returns.  By  special  preaching,  1 
mean  the  sermons  that  are  fitted  to  remarkable  occa- 
sions— as  the  more  formal  Thanksgiving  sermons,  ser- 
mons on  popular  movements,  and  critical  periods  in 
the  church's  or  the  country's  history.  The  interest 
in  them  is  centered  largely  in  the  preacher's  attitude 
to  the  subject.  He  is  defining  his  position ;  he  is 
maintaining  his  ground  or  his  consistency ;  and  the 
people  have  the  pleasing  satisfaction  of  sitting  in 
judgment  on  him. 

But,  you  say,  should  no  notice  be  taken  of  the 
great  events,  the  majestic  steps  of  Jehovah's  provi- 
dence ?  I  do  not  say  that.  I  am  for  noticing  them  ; 
and  when  you  can  get  men  like  Chalmers  and  Robert 
Hall  to  descant  on  such  events  as  the  death  of  the 
Princess  Charlotte,  I  am  in  favor  of  giving  their  ejfforts 
the  widest  publicity.  But  to  ordinary  men  there  is  a 
better  way.  Two  examples  occur  to  me  at  this  mo- 
ment.    The  late  Prince  Albert,  husband  of  Queen 


MEASURING  MEN.  185 

Victoria,  died  on  tlie  Sabbath,  and  it  was  my  duty  to 
preach  that  evening.  The  subject  for  the  evening 
was  discussed  in  the  usual  way,  and  at  some  fitting 
time  the  event  was  alluded  to  with  its  lesson,  and 
then  prayer  was  ofi'ered  for  the  newly- widowed 
Queen.  It  was  one  of  the  few  cases  I  have  wit- 
nessed where  audible  sobbitfg  disturbed  the  preacher. 
Had  a  special  sermon  been  made  of  it,  the  effect,  I 
feel  very  sure,  would  have  been  less,  and  less  salutary. 
The  other  occasion  of  which  I  think  was  the  assassin- 
ation of  President  Lincoln.  I  remember  the  spot 
where  I  heard  it,  and  how  it  made  my  head  swim. 
The  very  next  service  it  was  referred  to,  in  some 
connection  in  the  sermon,  witli  marked  effect,  which 
110  one  could  help  noticing.  Now,  suppose  in  these 
cases  the  expectation  of  the  people  raised  by  the 
announcement  of  a  special  sermon,  every  lawyer, 
every  man  that  ever  made  a  speech,  every  man 
almost,  has  a  double  train  of  thought  in  his  mind  — 
that  which  the  event  itself  suo-orests  to  him,  and  tliat 
which  relates  to  your  treatment  of  the  theme.  "  He 
has  a  great,  stirring  topic ;  he  has  announced  it ;  he 
has  taken  time  for  special  preparation  ;  now  let  us  see 
is  he  equal  to  the  occasion.  "     This  is  an  unfavorable 


18G  FUNERAL  SERMONS. 

condition  of  mind  for  receiving  spiritual  impression  ; 
and  you  keep  your  hearers  out  of  it  by  avoiding  the 
"  special "  element. 

I  am  inclined  to  put  among  the  "  specials  "  a  great 
proportion  of  the  funeral  addresses.  Now  and  then 
an  outstanding  and  prominent  Christian  challenges 
notice,  and  is  felt  by  common  consent  to  deserve  it  in 
the  pulpit.  But,  as  a  general  rule,  you  will  find 
funeral  sermons  the  hardest,  and  the  least  productive 
of  good,  among  your  efforts.  A  tender-hearted  man 
is  eager  to  speak  responsively  to  the  warm  feelings 
of  bereaved  and  mourning  relatives  to  whom  the  de- 
ceased has  been  so  much,  and  who,  in  their  fresh  grief, 
think  only  of  his -virtues.  But  he  cannot,  ordinarily, 
speak  as  strongly  as  they  feel ;  and  in  the  effort  he 
may  speak  with  an  emphasis,  the  foandation  of  which 
is  not  recognized  by  the  rest  of  his  audience.  The 
general  hearer,  to  whom  the  deceased  is  described  in 
the  strongest  terms  that  delineate  saintship,  will 
measure  your  language  next  Sabbath-day  by  the  ap- 
plication of  it  which  he  witnessed,  and  will  conclude 
that  exalted  Christian  character  is  of  easier  attainment 
than  he  had  understood ;  for  our  hearers  often  know 
the  departed  better  than  we  do.     The  obituarj^  notices 


CONNECTED  DISCOURSES  1S7 

in  the  Scripture  are  commonly  brief,  and  those  of  the 
pulpit  are  commonly  too  long.  You  will  do  wisely 
to  begin  and  go  through  this  most  difficult  and  deli- 
cate part  of  your  ministerial  labor  with  a  moderate 
and  measured  use  of  language ;  nor  will  you  lose  by 
this  in  the  end.  The  judgment  and  conscience  of  the 
Christian  people  will  be  with  you;  and  you  will  com- 
monly find  the  ripest  and  most  cultivated  Christians 
anxious  beforehand  that  the  least  possible  personal 
description  of  them  should  be  given  at  their  funerals. 
ISTow,  you  may  suppose  that  the  elimination  of 
these  "  occasional  efforts  "  will  leave  little  but  the 
dead  level  monotony  of  the  regular  sermon,  as  much, 
like  its  predecessor  and  its  successor  as  one  hymn- 
book  is  like  another.  This,  however,  is  by  no  means 
the  case.  In  lieu  of  the  foregoing  expedients  for 
keeping  up  interest,  let  there  be  vigorous  consecutive 
teaching.  For  this  provision  may  be  made  in  various 
ways.  One  is  by  sequence  of  thought.  Christ,  as 
the  mediator,  has  been,  let  us  say,  your  theme  on  one 
Lord's  Day.  His  functions  as  Priest,  as  Prophet,  as 
King,  may  follow  in  succession.  Or  in  connection 
with  any  one  of  these  you  branch  off  into  the  col- 
lateral truth,  of  the  lack  in  man  that  necessitates  the 


188  ^  SERIES  OF  SERMONS 

office,  and  liow  it  is  supplied.  From  the  kingly 
office  of  Christ  you  may  pass  to  the  forms  of 
obedience  we  render,  the  immunities  we  enjoy,  the 
prospects  before  us.  Care  "is  taken  to  say,  "  Last 
Lord's  Day  we  saw,  etc.  To-day,  we  follow  it  up  by 
considering,"  etc.  The  hearers  gradaally  get  the 
notion  that  you  have  a  plan  ;  that  you  are  aiming  at 
instructing  them  ;  and  commonly  their  minds  will 
meet  you  half  way.  Good  is  done  when  you  dis- 
possess them  of  the  idea  that  you  go  to  the  tradi- 
tional sermon-store  and  take  out  whatever  comes 
easiest  to  hand.  Or  there  may  be  formal  sequence, 
as  when  you  intimate  a  course  of  sermons.  Once  a 
year  a  minister  might,  with  great  advantage,  have 
such  a  course.  The  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments, the  Miracles  of  our  Lord,  the  Parables, 
the  Epistles  to  the  Churches,  fm'nish  materials  for 
such  continuous  and  connected  addresses.  Biog- 
raphy, history,  the  beatitudes,  the  arguments  of  the 
Epistles,  may  make  the  subjects  of  such  instruction. 
The  minor  prophets,  each  of  them  furnishing  mate- 
rial for  a  sermon  in  which  you  popularize  what  is 
commonly  called  "introduction,"  furnish  a  most 
useful    line     of     instruction.      Take    the    averao^e 


THE  BIBLE  UNKNOWN.  189 

young  person  in  our  congregation  and  bid  him  find 
Amos.  He  is  mentally  paralyzed  for  a  moment.  It 
takes  liim  a  little  time  to  collect  his  scattered  faculties 
to  the  unfamiliar  task.  Then  begins  a  nervous 
turning  of  handfuls  of  leaves,  with  a  concurrent 
mental  effort  to  run  over  the  list  of  the  prophets  in  his 
mind,  so  as,  if  possible,  to  locate  Amos.  And  all  this 
is  typical  of  his  mental  state  regarding  the  contents 
of  Amos.  There  is  to  many  a  sort  of  Sahara  in  the 
middle  of  their  Bibles  which  they  should  be  made  to 
explore.  Genesis  they  know,  and  something  about 
Moses,  and  David,  and  Goliath ;  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment they  know ;  but  Hosea,  and  Zephaniah,  and 
Ezekiel,  who  are  these  ?  Gentlemen,  at  the  risk  of 
seeming  to  repeat  a  cuckoo-soug,  let  me  declare  again 
and  again,  that  what  is  most  wanted  among  profess- 
ing Christians  is  knowledge  of  their  Bibles. 
Christians  know  too  little  of  it ;  skeptics  know  but 
little  of  it,  and  great  masses  of  the  otherwise  intelli- 
gent but  ungodly  of  our  population  do  not  know  it  at 
all.  Ignorance  of  it  is  the  soil  in  which  the  rank 
growths  of  "  isms "  of  every  kind  flourish.  Nor  is 
this  ignorance  only  among  the  rude  peasantry  from 
foreign  lands,  such  as  are  transported  across  the  con- 


190  TSE  IND  VOTIVE  METHOD. 

tinent  to  be  drawers  of  water  for  Mormonism.  It  is 
surprising  to  every  man  who  has  looked  into  it,  how 
many  native-born  Americans  from  Maine,  New 
Hampshire,  Yermont,  Massachusetts,  and  Kew  York, 
shrewd,  well-informed,  posted  in  all  newspaper 
themes,  are  yet  lamentably  ignorant  of  the  letter  of 
their  Bibles.  It  is  essential  to  the  growth  of  piety 
and  virtue  to  change  all  this.  ITever  mind  whether 
yon  are  thouglit  learned,  eloquent,  strong,  or  accom- 
plished. You  shall  not  have  lived  in  vain  if  it  can 
be  written  over  your  grave,  "  He  made  the  people 
understand  the  Scriptures." 

It  is  not  needful  to  remind  you  of  the  two  quite 
distinct  methods  of  pursuing  knowledge  which  have 
been  employed  by  men.  In  the  one  the  inquirer  forms 
a  theory,  and  then  looks  around  for  the  facts  to  fit 
into  it.  This  plan  charmed  the  daring,  brilliant, 
Oriental  mind.  On  the  other  he  collects  his  facts,  and 
enough  of  them,  and  builds  up  his  theory  on  them. 
Practical  Rome  was  more  inclined  to  this  method. 
With  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  the  human  mind 
received  a  mighty  impetus,  and,  as  we  see  in  the 
vigorous  preaching  of  Augustine,  turned  to  the  way 
of  dealing  with  the  data,  and  founding  on  them  the 


TEE  FACTS  AND  THE  TEXTS.  101 

theory.  With  the  growth  of  superstition,  the  Aristo- 
telian method  was  resumed,  and  we  get  to  the  elabo- 
rate trifling  of  the  Schoolmen,  wl^ose  theology 
resembled,  in  subtlety  and  in  want  of  foundation, 
the  Greek  philosophy.  The  Reformation  broke 
up  these  card-board  castles  that  men  had  con- 
structed, and  sent  men  after  the  fashion  of  Augustine 
to  the  great  mass  of  data  in  the  Scriptures.  Bacon's 
inductive  method  set  men  to  the  study  of  nature. 
The  result  is  apparent  in  the  material  advances  of 
modern  times.  Three  hundred  years  of  inductive 
philosophy  have  done  more  to  enable  men  to  rule 
over  and  subdue  the  earth  than  a  thousand  preceding 
years 

"Through  all  their  creeping  dark  duration." 

Now  we  want  this  Baconian  method  applied  to  the 
Bible-study.  What  facts  are  in  nature,  as  in  gases,  in 
minerals,  in  atoms,  to  the  student  of  matter,  Bible 
texts  are  to  the  theologian.  These  we  sift,  examine, 
analyze,  classify.  Instead  of  evolving  conceptions 
and  theories  from  our  own  brain — like  the  crystalline 
spheres  with  which  Ptolemy  filled  the  heavens — 
brilliant  and   baseless — and    proving   them    by   our 


192  WELL-FOUNDED  THEORIES. 

conceptions  of  the  fitness  of  things,  we  build  tnem 
up  on  the  well-ascertained  data  of  revelation.  They 
are  no  stronger  than  their  foundation.  If  we  have 
reasoned  rightly  they  are  as  strong.  As  the  measure  of 
the  power  of  a  chain  or  a  machine  is  the  strength  of 
its  weakest  point,  so  our  theories  and  conclusions  are 
no  stronger  than  our  weakest  reasonings  regarding 
the  revealed  truths.  But  working  on  this  plan  with 
the  modesty  of  true  science,  intensijied  because  we 
are  dealing  with  the  declarations  of  the  living  God, 
we  go  from  strength  to  strength,  every  conquest  we 
make  being  assured,  and  every  trophy  we  take  hav- 
ing inscribed  on  it,  "  Kot  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto 
us,  but  unto  Thy  name  be  the  glory."  Kor  can  you 
fail  to  see  that  this  plan  honors  God  the  speaker,  as 
true  philosopliy  honors  God  the  worker.  Here  are 
facts  that  do  not  fit  into  my  philosophy.  Then  the 
philosophy  must  give  way  to  the  facts.  We  must 
keep  our  system  open,  so  to  speak,  till  a  place  is 
found  for  the  facts.  Here  in  religious  thought  are 
truths  and  texts  tliat  do  not  fit  into  my  system. 
Then  my  system,  must  give  way  to  them.  It  does 
not  support  the  texts  ;  the  texts  must  support  it.  If 
they  do  not,  it  goes  down,  and  it  ought  to  go  down. 


"  THE  CHRISTIAN  YEAR."  I93 

For  man  is  not  a  creator,  but  an  observer ;  not  even 
so  much  an  inventor  as  a  discoverer.  He  does  not, 
in  bis  best  philosophy,  set  out  with  a  daring  guess  as 
to  centric  and  concentric  circles  in  the  heavens.  He 
begins  with  the  falling  apple,  the  sparkling  dewdrop, 
the  shining  candle  on  the  earth.  He  works  upward 
to  stars  and  suns.  The  task  is  slow,  unambitious,  and 
toilsome, 'but  the  reward  is  sure.  IS'ow  true  theology 
is  the  counterpart  of  that  acquisition,  the  written 
word  of  God  corresponding  to  the  glorious  works  of 
God.  We  toil  among  texts  and  words,  instead  of 
starting  from  without  and  above,  with  a  comprehen- 
sive philosophy  evolved  from  our  own  consciousness. 
Our  path  is  lowly,  and  at  first  obscure,  but  it  shineth 
more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day. 

Our  friends  of  the  Episcopal  Church  have  retained 
from  pre-Reformation  times  the  "  Church  Year," 
with  its  Christmas  and  Easter,  and  other  holy  times 
connected  in  the  thought  of  the  Church  with  the 
events  of  the  Church's  founding.  The  good  and  the 
strength  derived  in  this  way  are  not  unmixed,  but  a 
certain  variety  of  theme  is  secured.  They  have  not, 
indeed,  in  England,  retained  any  firmer  hold  on  the 
people  thereby.     Take  the  southern  portion  of  Great 


194:  TEE  TEST  OF  EXPERIENCE. 

Britain,  in  which  this  system  with  all  the  prestige  and 
influence  of  an  establishment  was  set  forth,  and  after 
a  couple  of  centuries  there  is  not  an  established 
Church  in  Christendom  with  so  many  pronounced  dis- 
senters from  it  as  the  English.  And  when  men  leave 
it,  they  leave  the  bishop,  the  prayer-book,  and  the 
Christian  year  behind  absolutely.  No  dissenting 
community  has  attempted  to  reproduce  them.  Take 
Scotland,  on  the  other  hand,  with  no  such  arrange- 
ments, with  a  poor  establishment,  frowned  on  habitu- 
ally by  power,  and  without  prestige.  It,  too,  has  had 
dissenters  from  its  pale,  numerous  and  earnest.  But 
when  they  have  gone,  it  has  not  been  in  protest 
against  the  Church  institutions,  but  for  them.  They 
liave  gone  in  an  effort  to  keep  them  pure.  Kone  of 
them  renounce  Presbytery,  their  Confession,  or  their 
Catechism.  Every  "body"  sets  up  its  own  Presbyt- 
ery, instates  in  authority  the  Confession  and  the 
Catechism.  All  this  I  mention  to  show  that  a  very 
exaggerated  idea  may  be  entertained  of  the  power  to 
interest  and  retain  of  the  festivals  and  anniversaries 
of  that  "  Church  Year,"  around  which  Keble  wove 
the  chaplets  of  a  very  attractive  Christian  poesy. 
But  in  another  way  we  may  attain  all  the  variety  we 


"  WRAT  MEAN  YE"  105 

need,  and  without  any  element  of  weakness.  "We 
can  call  out  and  promote  a  true  churcli-life,  on  the 
line  of  our  New  Testament  institutions.  When  the 
ordinance  of  baptism  is  administered,  let  all  the  truth 
therewith  connected  be  brought  before  the  people 
regularly,  patiently,  diligently.  When  the  young 
become  communicants,  let  the  nature  of  a  Christian 
profession  be  explained  and  the  duty  enforced ;  and 
so  we  realize  all  the  benefits  without  any  of  the 
weakness  of  "  confirmation."  When  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per is  observed — and  it  ought  probably  to  be  more 
frequent  than  it  is — all  the  mystery  and  charm  of 
incarnation,  all  the  majesty  of  law  met  by  substitu- 
tion, the  one  for  the  many  and  the  innocent  for  the 
guilty,  and  all  the  pleading  pathos  of  the  crucifixion, 
may  pass  under  review,  appealing  at  once  to  judg- 
ment, conscience,  memory,  and  affections.  This  may 
seem  to  you  a  kind  of  truism,  a  thing  so  obviously 
right  that  no  need  exists  to  enforce  it.  You  are  mis- 
taken here.  The  Lord's  Supper  is  sometimes  ob- 
served with  very  little  reference  to  it  in  sermon  or 
prayers,  little  foregoing  instruction,  little  subsequent 
helps  to  recall  obligation  and  strive  after  consis- 
tency. 


196  TRUE  CEURGHMAN8HIP. 

So,  when  the  choice  and  ordination  of  an  officer  be- 
comes the  duty  of  the  Church,  should  we  have  the 
exposition  of  popular  rights  and  responsibilities,  and 
the  divine,  scriptural  warrant  for  ordination.  The 
Church's  nature,  and  the  Church's  functions  as  a 
living  organism  of  which  Jesus  Christ  is  the  head 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  heart,  come  under  notice, 
and  the  church-life  is  maintained  concurrently  with 
the  life  of  the  individual  soul. 

If  it  be  said  that  this  course  fosters  undue  and  ex- 
cessive thought  regarding  the  Church,  and  brings 
men  into  that  undesirable  temper  known  as  sectari- 
anism or  bigotry,  the  reply  is  at  hand.  An  intelli- 
gent acquaintance  with  the  principles  underlying 
church-life  is  not  the  soil  in  which  bigotry  flourishes. 
It  is  the  ignorant  who  are  sectarian.  It  is  one  thing 
to  understand  what  we  mean  in  baptizing,  ordaining, 
and  commemorating  the  Saviour's  love  ;  it  is  quite  an- 
other, ignorantly  and  arrogantly,  to  despise  those  who 
think  differently.  As  a  general  rule,  the  most  practi- 
cally catholic  Christians  are  those  wlio  have  the  most 
intelligent  acquaintance  with  their  Church  principles, 
and  the  most  enlightened  attachment  thereto  ;  even 
as  the  best  and  most  devoted  husbands  and  fathers 


MISSIONARY  PREACHTNO.  197 

are  commonly  tlie  best  neighbors  and  the  most  pub- 
lic-spirited citizens. 

The  Church  of  Christ  is  to  be  aggressive  in  the 
world..  Her  activities  find  scope  in  missionary  labor 
at  home  and  abroad.  But  a  Christian  community  will 
not  perform  its  functions  in  this  respect  without  in- 
struction, motive,  and  direction.  It  is  no  mean  part 
of  a  Church's  life  to  learn  and  do  God's  will  in  this 
department,  and  the  minister  can  usually  find  few 
topics  more  fitted  to  instruct  and  animate  his  charge 
than  missionary  work  furnishes.  Let  the  day  on 
which  foreign  missions  receive  the  people's  gifts  be 
marked  by  a  vigorous  presentation  of  the  condition 
of  heathenism,  its  unconscious  fulfillment  of  prophecy, 
its  illustration  of  Scripture  truth,  its  utter  helpless- 
ness without  the  Gospel,  and  its  exhibition  of  what 
we  would  be  in  the  like  condition.  When  home 
missions  have  their  day,  let  the  moral  and  spiritual 
condition  of  the  country  pass  under  review.  Let 
there  be  turned  on  it  the  light  of  God's  word ;  let  its 
dark  places  be  exhibited ;  let  our  national  weaknesses 
and  sins  be  remorselessly  laid  bare;  let  the  actual  con- 
dition of  the  Churches  and  the  masses  be  faithfully- 
portrayed  ;  let  the  obligations  of  the  Christian  people 


198  REMEMBER  THE  POOR. 

be  enforced  ;  let  the  truths  wliich  formed  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Christian  Church,  and  again  of  this  Re- 
public, be  emphasized,  and  a  genuine  public  spirit 
will  be  fostered,  such  as  makes  men  Christian  patri- 
ots. The  novelty  and  the  first  flush  of  missionary 
excitement  have  passed ;  the  mere  romance  of  the  en- 
terprise is  gone.  The  work  is  now  to  rely  for  prose- 
cution on  calm,  intelligent,  reflecting  Christian  prin- 
ciple. Knowledge  has  to  supply  motive.  A  race 
has  grown  up  that  knows  not  Brainerd,  and  Judson, 
and  Carey,  and  Board  man,  and  Goodell,  and  Moffat. 
The  abundance  of  general  literature  crowds  out  the 
missionary.  People  will  not  long  give  sympathy, 
prayer,  and  money  to  that  of  which  they  have  no 
knowledge ;  and  in  our  time  a  Church  that  has  not 
missionary  zeal,  is  like  a  body  paralyzed  on  one  side.  It 
isincapable  of  taking  exercise,  and  the  debility  increases. 
The  poor  among  us,  again,  constitute  a  means  of 
developing  a  true  Church-life.  Our  Protestant  system, 
by  its  very  success  in  fostering  a  manly,  vigorous, 
self-reliant  spirit,  has  thrown  us  out  of  sympathy,  in 
some  degree,  with  patient,  zealous,  enlightened  effort 
for  the  poor.  When  there  is  an  unusual  pressure  on 
the  indigent  we  make  a  generous  contribution.   When 


•  "  VOMPEL  THEM  TO  COME  IN."  199 

we  liave  done  that,  we  are  apt  to  think  we  have 
done  all.  But  it  is  not  so.  Surely  tliere  is  a  via 
media  somewhere  between  the  medijEvalism  which 
divided  society  into  the  two  distinct  and  well- 
marked  classes — the  givers,  who  meant  well,  and 
the  receivers,  who  fared  ill  by  sinking  into  needy  and 
greedy  dependence — the  "  religions,"  who  dispensed, 
and  the  ignorant  and  degraded  who  lived  on,  alms — 
between  this  and  the  Protestant  method,  which  remits 
the  whole  question  of  the  general  poor  to  the  civil 
authorities.  Surely  the  Church  may  yet  fall  on  the 
plan  of  those  earlier  self-denying  laborers  whose 
virtues  and  successes  gave  prestige  to  the  monastic 
system,  who  taught  and  elevated  while  they  helped 
materially,  who  lifted  up  mind  and  soul  while  feed- 
ing and  clothing  the  body.  To  instruct  the  large 
class  not  inside  our  Churches,  to  bind  them  by  the 
gentle  bonds  of  love  to  the  Church's  institutions,  to 
educate  them  out  of  jealousy  and  suspicion  of  the 
rich,  and  into  self-helpfulness,  forethought,  and  all 
prudent  thrift  and  self-respect,  is  surely  a  work 
worthy  of  the  American  CImrch  in  the  nine- 
teenth century.  There  is  no  want  of  benevolence 
in    the   American    people.     But  it   is  benevolence 


200  LOVE,  NOT  LAW. 

that  is  unintelligent,  that  is  credulous,  that  is  impul- 
sive, and,  moreover,  that  will  not  take  trouble. 
If  ever  the  problem  of  pauperism  is  to  be  solved, 
Christian  love  must  take  it  in  hand.  Law  can 
only,  like  the  surgeon's  knife,  cut  off  what  is  hope- 
lessly gone,  or  mortifying.  Force  can  only  restrain  ; 
it  has  no  reforming  capacity.  Police  can  only  stand 
between  our  houses  and  lives  and  the  human  beasts 
of  prey,  that  grow  up  in  our  social  wilderness ;  it 
cannot  tame  them.  Christian  love,  catching  its 
inspiration  from  the  cross  and  drawing  its  power 
from  Him  who  hung  upon  it,  alone  can  appreciate 
the  situation,  catch  the  eye,  win  the  confidence,  and 
gain  the  heart  of  the  criminal  and  reckless,  who  are 
constantly  passing  out  of  the  ranks  of  neglected 
pauperism.  Given,  a  Church  that  has  lost  positive 
faith,  that  is  letting  the  doctrines  go  one  by  one,  to 
which  God  is  mere  infinite  good  nature,  the  Cross 
a  mere  legend  and  the  Holy  Ghost  a  figure  of  speech, 
and  I  know  no  better  restorative  than  to  have  it 
brought  in  good  earnest  to  deal  with  souls  dead 
and  utterly  perishing  in  their  own  corruption. 
The  "fall"-  will  become  real,  depravity  real,  need  of 
regeneration  real,  the  blood  of  Jesus  real,  the  wages 


HEALTH  BY  EXERCISE.  201 

of  sin  real,  the  gift  of  God  real,  as  the  abortive  effort 
is  made  by  kindly  platitudes  to  call  out  spiritual  life. 
Human  wickedness  mocks  all  superficial  dealing 
with  symptoms,  and  compels  us  to  come  back  to  the 
radical  truth  of  revelation,  "  If  any  man  be  in  Christ, 
he  is  a  new  creature,"  and  in  no  other  way — "  old 
things  are  passed  away  ;  behold  all  things  are  become 
new."  *  A  lazy,  indolent  church  tends  toward 
unbelief.  An  earnest,  busy  church,  in  hand-to-hand 
conflict  with  sin  and  misery,  grows  stronger  in  faith. 
One  thing  more  only,  gentlemen,  shall  I  add:  In 
your  ministry,  and  in  all  systematic  church-work, 
try  to  magnify  the  family.  We  have  dwelt  on  indi- 
vidual responsibility,  power,  and  capacity,  until  the 
individual  has  appeared  to  be  the  exclusive  unit  of 
society.f  The  Lord  makes  much  of  the  family,  binds 
together  parent  and   child,  and   so   generation   and 

*  2  Cor.  V.  17. 

+  A  truth  neglected  avenges  itself  by  leaving  spfvce  for  an 
opposite  error.  A  half  truth  told  perpetually  ha^  a  corre- 
sponding Nemesis  in  its  train.  We  have  cried  up  the  indi- 
vidual. But,  behold  !  here  is  a  good  half  of  the  individuals  of 
the  race  to  whom  vsre  deny  equal  rights  and  privileges.  Hence 
the  crying  and  screaming  one  hears  from  the  aggrieved  claim- 
ants. But  a  cry  or  a  scream  out  of  a  crowd  is  evidence,  as 
9* 


202  HOME,  SWEET  HOME. 

generation.  His  offer  of  mercy  runs  thus,  "  Believe 
on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved, 
and  thy  house."  Work  on  this  principle  with  your 
charges.  A  strong  Church  is  made  up  of  well- 
ordered  families,  where  intelligent.  Christian  parents 
bring  up  their  children  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  where 
the  home  of  the  week  has  its  counterpart  in.  the  home 
of  the  Sabbath,  where  the  hopes  and  joys  of  the 
living,  and  the  blessed  memories  of  the  dead,  bind  to 
the  Lord  and  his  Church,  where  young  men  and 
maidens  are  glad  when  it  is  said  unto  them,  "Let  us 
go  up  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord,"  where  the  tran- 
quillity, and  purity,  and  holy  peace,  the  light  and  the 
love,  form  to  the  opening  minds  of  children  a  type  and 
prophecy  of  the  eternal  Sabbath,  and  the  heaven  above. 

lias  often  been  said,  that  some  one  is  being  liurt  in  the  pressure. 
The  candid  and  just  course  is,  not  to  cry  it  down,  but  to  look 
and  inquire,  and  relieve  the  pressure  where  it  hurts.  Instead  of 
pooh-poohing  "  women's  rights,"  will  it  not  be  wiser  and  better 
to  return  to  the  divine  method  of  honoring  the  family,  guard- 
ing its  rights,  defining  its  relations,  and  the  duties  due  to  it.  If 
it  be  said  many  women  are  unmarried,  the  reply  is  that  marriage 
is  not  necessary  to  a  family.  There  are  in  the  United  States 
many  well-ordered  and  happy  families  of  the  unmarried — homes 
like  that  of  Bethany,  with  Lazarus,  and  Martha,  and  Mary,  his  sis- 
ters, in  which  there  does  not  seem  to  have  been  any  married  person. 


LECTURE    IX. 


THE   PEEACHING  REQUIRED   BY   THE   TIMES. 

It  may  be  readily  admitted  that  the  truth  had 
to  be  presented  in  one  form  in  the  apostolic  times, 
in  another  in  the  days  of  the  Reformation,  and  in 
yet  another  in  our  own  era.  Heathenism  and 
corrupt  Judaism  had  to  be  dealt  with  by  the 
apostles,  corrupt  Christianity  by  the  reformers,  un- 
belief and  various  forms  of  worldliness  by  us.  But 
in  all  these  cases  the  truth  is  the  same,  though  its 
opponents  are  different.  It  was  with  the  weapons 
of  Paul,  Peter,  and  John  the  battle  of  the  Reforma- 
tion was  fought  and  won.  It  is  from  this  same 
armory  we  are  to  equip  oui'selves  for  the  conflicts 
of  our  day.  The  methods  of  employing  the  truth 
must  needs  vary  in  some  degree  with  the  varying 
forms  of  migodliness;  but  "the  truth"  is  a  fixed 
quantity.  Its  nature  and  the  history  of  human 
thought  all  go  to  show  what    might   be  presumed 


204  CEANOES  SUPERFICIAL 

from  its  origin — that  it  is  capable  of  adaptation  to 
all  the  emergencies  of  human  thought  and  life. 

But,  in  actual  fact,  "times"  are  less  variable  for 
the  purposes  of  a  preacher  than  is  commonly  sup- 
posed. Steamships  and  railway-cars  differ  materi- 
ally from  the  conveyances  they  have  superseded, 
but  their  passengers  have,  as  men  and  women, 
undergone  no  corresponding  change.  Human  nature, 
in  its  essential  elements,  has  been  the  subject  of 
no  substantial  alteration.  The  carnal  mind  is  still 
enmity  against  God.  Man  is  still  so  ignorant  that 
he  needs  a  great  Prophet ;  so  guilty  that  he  needs 
atonement ;  so  rebellious  tliat  he  needs  to  be  con- 
quered for  the  Lord ;  so  helpless  that  he  needs  to 
be  defended;  so  wayward  that  he  needs  to  be 
"  established "  and  kept  by  the  mighty  power  of 
God. 

l!^or  does  the  enemy  of  our  souls  discover  or  invent 
a  great- deal.  Satan  is  a  finite  being.  He  has  not 
materially  modified  or  improved  his  devices  since  the 
beginning.  The  Babylon  of  the  Apocalypse  retains 
all  the  essential  lineaments  of  the  ancient  Babylon.* 

*  See  the  Two  Babylons,  or  Ninirod  and  the  Papacy,  by  the 
Rev.  A.  Hislop,  a  most  ingenious  and  interesting  work. 


SATAN  INVENTS  LITTLE.  205 

Worldliness  in  our  time  is,  in  substance,  the  same  as 
before  the  Flood.  There  was  complete  absorption 
in  the  material  interests  and  social  affairs  of  the 
present  life,  to  the  exclusion  of  God  and  the  future. 
"  They  did  eat,  they  drank,  they  married  wives, 
they  were  given  in  marriage  ;  "  "  they  bought,  they 
sold,  they  planted,  they  builded  "  in  Sodom  much  as 
they  do  in  our  cities  and  towns.*  If  you  study  the 
history  of  our  first  parents'  temptation  you  will  see 
how  few  improvements  the  tempter  has  effected 
in  all  these  thousands  of  years.  He  is  still  standing 
by  the  tree  of  knowledge ;  et^  telling  women  and 
men  that  they  shall  be  as  gods^  knowing  good  and' 
evil;  still  insinuating  doubts  concerning  divine 
attributes ;  still  saying :  "  You  may  be  guided  by 
me,  and  disregard  God,  and  ye  shall  not  die." 
Study  the  temptation  of  our  blessed  Lord,  and  you 
will  see  that  the  policy  tried,  in  vain  on  him  is  still 
the  diabolical  policy  applied  to  man.  To  sow  the 
seeds  of  distrust  of  God,  and  confidence  in  self;  to 


*  Luke  svii.  27,  28.  The  danger  to  very  many  ineu,  now  as 
then,  is  in  things  lawful  in  themselves.  They  engross  and  pre- 
occupy, and  men  know  not  till  the  end  comes,  and  they  are 
carried  away. 


206  SELF-LOVE  MAGNIFIES. 

point  out  easy  roads  to  elevation  on  Satan's  plan ;  or 
to  lead  men  into  self-destroying  presumption — this 
is,  even  now  as  then,  the  aim  of  Satan  in  all  the 
agencies  he  establishes  and  in  all  the  movements 
he  inspires. 

The  tendency  with  each  generation  is  to  think 
its  own  time  the  strangest  and  most  peculiar  the 
world  ever  saw.  How  many  patients  in  the  hos- 
pitals imagine  their  cases  unique  and  unprecedented ! 
How  many  persons  suppose  their  lives  without 
parallel  in  hmnan  experience!  When  I  have  been 
speaking  in  various  cities  and  towns  in  the  interests 
of  temperance,  I  have  been  told  in  at  least  fifty 
cases :  "  This  is  the  very  worst  town  for  intemper- 
ance in  the  whole  country."  My  informants  simply 
knew  it  better  than  they  did  any  other.  So  we, 
because  we  know  our  own  times  better  than  others, 
are  apt  to  think  them  unlike  any  others.  There  is, 
perhaps,  even  a  spice  of  self-love  in  this  delusion. 
Like  criminals,  or  like  the  poor  sufferers  under  the 
surgeon's  knife,  we  are  flattered  by  the  idea  that  our 
circumstances  are  not  ordinary  and  commonplace. 
But,  as  to  all  the  great  facts  of  human  life  and  the 
underlying  principles  of  human  conduct,  "  the  thing . 


STUD  Y  BOTH  SIDES.  207 

that  hath  been  is  that  which  shall  be,  and  that  which 
is  done  is  that  which  shall  be  done ;  and  there  is  no 
new  thing  under  the  sun."  *  This  statement,  if  it 
be  just,  tends  to  show  that  if  we  know  thoroughly, 
and  tell  clearly  the  truth,  it  will  suit  our  times,  and 
all  times,  as  truly  as  the  unchanged  sunlight  suits  all 
human  eyes  and  the  pure  atmosphere  all  healthy 
lungs  from  the  beginning. 

Yet  these  considerations  do  not  preclude  our 
studying  the  features  of  our  times  and  the  best 
methods  of  offering  and  urging  the  blessings  of 
the  covenant  of  grace.  But  it  is  noticeable  that  in 
many  studies  on  this  subject  the  bad  elements  of 
our  era  only,  or  mainly,  are  presented,  and  the 
preacher  is  placed  in  antagonism  to  all  the  great 
forces  at  work  in  society.  This  is  very  discouraging, 
but  is  it  necessary  ?  Are  there  not  good  tendencies 
as  well  as  bad  of  which  the  preacher  may  take  note  ? 
Is  not  the  Lord  Jesus,  from  his  "glorious  high 
throne,"  subsidizing  many  human  movements  and 
yoldng  them  to  the  chariot  of  the  everlasting 
Gospel?     It  would  be  ungrateful  in    spirit   and    it 

*  Eccl.  i.  9. 


208  THE  GOLDEN  AGE  COMING. 

would  be  unwise  in  policy  to  ignore  these.  There- 
fore I  propose  to  indicate  to  you  some  of  the  tenden- 
cies of  our  time — good  no  less  than  evil — to  which 
we  should  have  an  intelligent  regard  in  making  our 
selection  of  topics,  and  in  determining  the  tone  and 
treatment  they  demand. 

There  are  evils  so  salient  that  we  must  take 
account  of  them,  and  yet  without  supposing  that  our 
cotemporaries  are  sinners  beyond  all  that  went 
before  them.  Intelligence  is  now  collected  from  all 
quarters.  It  is  rendered  picturesque  and  striking. 
The  crimes  and  casualties  of  the  world  are  served  up 
with  our  breakfasts.  We  may  suppose  the  world  get- 
ting worse  when  it  is  only  getting  better  known.  So 
we  may  be  tempted,  like  the  paganism  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  to  put  the  Golden  Age  in  the  past,  while 
Christianity  places  it  in  the  future.  Paganism  had 
the  traditions  and  broken  memories  of  Eden.  It 
had  not  the  prophecy  of  the  reign  .of  righteousness. 
It  had  the  knowledge  of  its  own  corruptions,  and 
it  had  no"  vision  of  the .  kingdom  of  grace  and 
holiness. 

1.  Among  the  noticeable  evils  of  our  day. is  the 
overestimate  of   riches  as  a  means  of  happiness  and 


SUDDENLY  RICH.  209 

proof  of  success  in  life.  In  the  Old  Testament, 
where,  in  the  absence  of  completed  written  revela- 
tion. Divine  Providence  expressed  divine  regard  in 
material  prosperity,  "jwealtli  and  riches  ''  are  mag- 
nified,* notj  indeed,  without  many  a  pungent  word  as 
to  their  insufficiency,  transiency,  and  deceptiveness.f 
We  retain  much  of  the  Old  Testament  ^aew  of  them, 
and  of  a  very  little  religion  in  a  rich  man  we  are  apt 
to  think  it "  a  great  deal  for  him."  The  conquests 
over  natm'e  have  been  signal  and  many.  The  earth 
has  yielded  up  her  stores  to  trained  laborers.  Gold 
has  come  in  rich  abundancy  in  our  time,  and  men 
are  dazzled  by  its  brilliancy.  Commerce  has  been 
eager,  enterprising,  and  successful.  Money  has  bqen 
acquired  with  unwonted  rapidity  by  numbers,  and 
the  publicity  given  to  all  such  "successes"  in  our 
life  magnifies  their  number  and  greatness,  and  stimu- 
lates the  ambitious.  This  fact  determines  the  duty 
of  the  preacher.  AYhat  was  made  incumbent  on 
Timothy  we  are  not  to  evade.  "  Charge  them  that 
are  rich  in  this  world  that  they  be  not  high-minded, 
nor  trust  in  uncertain  riches,  but  in  the  living  God, 

*  2  Chron.  i.  13  ;  Ps.  cxii.  3. 

f  Job  xxi.  13  ;  Prov.  xiii.  11,  22  ;  Ps.  xlix.  6. 


210  FRIENDS  BY  MAMMON. 

who  giveth  us  all  things  richly  to  enjoy."  *  Perhaps 
because  we  have  not  titles,  distinctions,  and  heredi- 
tary honors,  and  are  to  so  great  a  degree  a  com- 
mercial community,  there  is  a  tendency  among  us  to 
pay  court  to  wealth,  from  which  even  the  Church  is 
not  exempt,  which  is  at  once  inconsistent  with  our 
republican  and  with  Christian  simplicity.  There  is  a 
vulgar,  jealous  envy  of  the  rich  which  makes  men 
ready  to  believe  the  worst  things  of  them — a  base 
passion  on  which  communism  and  all  kindred  "  isms  " 
live,  with  which  the  Bible  has  no  sympathy;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  it  urges — and  so  must  we — that  the 
rich  make  to  themselves  friends  of  the  Mammon  of 
unrighteousness,  that  when  they  fail  they  may 
receive   them   into   everlasting    habitations.f      The 

*  1  Tim.  vi.  17-19. 

+  Luke  xvi.  9.  In  natural  recoil  from,  "indulgences"  and 
Balvation  by  money,  Protestants  have  been  sby  of  this  text. 
Why  should  they  be  ?  Our  Lord,  naturally  taking  the  language 
from  the  foregoing  parable,  counsels  men  to  employ  what  in 
the  steward's  hand  was  unrighteous  Mammon  in  doing  good  to 
those  who  need  it  (assumed  to  be  God's  children),  that  when  it 
failed  them  (apparently  the  true  reading)  by  its  departure,  or 
by  theirs,  these  friends  should  welcome  them  into  everlasting 
habitations.  This  is  very  different  indeed  from  a  salvation  by 
"money  and  price." 


USES  OF  MONEY.  211 

whole  subject  of  Christian  obligations  regarding 
money,  of  systematic  consecration,  of  maintenance  of 
God's  ordinances,  receives  less  attention  now  than  in 
apostolic  times,  partly  because  ministers  shrink  from 
seeining  to  plead  their  own  cause.  Few  of  tliem 
have  preached  as  much  as  the  Apostle  Paul  alone 
wrote  on  this  eminently  practical  topic.  Kor  is  it 
only  on  the  positive  side  that  we  are  to  teach 
believers  how  to  use  their  gifts.  There  are  real 
perils  to  all — to  the  young  especially — in  the  eager 
race  for  riches,  of  which  the  pulpit  ought  to  give 
unmistakable  warning.  For  every  man  who  goes  to 
moral  ruin  through  narrow  means  there  are  two  who 
stumble  over  fortunes  and  go  to  destruction,  or  who, 
in  the  mad  pursuit  of  them,  "  fall  into  temptation 
and  a  snare,  and  into  many  foolish  and  hurtful 
lusts,  which  drown  men  in  destruction  and  perdi- 
tion." 

2.  The  extravagant  and  selfish  use  of  money  is  a 
trouble  of  our  times.  It  is  not  merely  that  men  lay 
out  much  money  ;  if  the  objects  be  legitimate  they 
have  a  right  to  expend  their  own.  The  sin  and  con- 
temptible folly  lie  in  laying  it  out  for  the  purpose  of 
being  able  to  proclaim  the  lavish  expenditure.     The 


212  ABUSES  OF  MONET 

luxiir}^  of  heathen  Rome  in  her  decay  is  being  repro- 
duced. When  Apicius  offered  wine  with  pearls  dis- 
solved in  it ;  when  Lollia  Paulina's  second-best  dress 
cost  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars ;  and 
when  Roman  society  applauded  and  envied,  the  rot- 
tenness had  already  superseded  the  brave  simplicity 
of  early  and  ever-victorious  Rome.  The  iron  was 
becoming  mixed  with  the  clay.  Our  danger  looms 
up  in  this  direction.  Yulgarj  ostentatious,  objectless 
expenditure  does  not  strike  us  as  it  ought.  "We  begin 
to  "  live  delicately  "  like  Tyre  and  ancient  Rabylon  ; 
we  ought  to  be  afraid  of  inglorious  decadence  like 
theirs. 

If  there  is  to  be  any  effective  protest  against  all  this 
the  Church  should  surely  raise  it.  If  any  light  is  cast 
on  it  in  the  Scriptures,  the  pulpit  ought  to  reflect  it. 
Christian  women  ought  to  set  an  example  of  modesty, 
self-restraint,  and  womanly  dignity,  to  the  community. 
So  long  as  distinction  comes  by  dress  and  decoration, 
and  the  joys  of  life  consist,  in  any  marked  degree,  in 
the  display  of  fashionable  costume  and  costly  jewelry, 
so  long  will  the  temptation  be  irresistible  to  the 
weaker  part  of  the  sex  to  procure  these  essentials  at 
any  cost,  even  the  sacrifice  of  all  that  true  woman 


A  JUST  BALANCE.  213 

cherishes.  "  She  that  liveth  in  pleasure  is  dead  while 
she  liveth  "*  is  plain  and  practical  truth  which  the 
pulpit  should  re-echo.  Where  is  the  use  of  setting  up 
Magdalen  Asjluins  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other, 
opening  up  the  slipper j  paths  on  which  he  feet  of 
"  careless  daughters "  stumble,  so  that  thej  become 
qualified  bj  sin  and  miserj  to  be  the  objects  of  such 
"  charity  ? "  Why  should  panics,  losses,  and  mortifying 
collapses  be  necessary  to  recall  man  to  the  truth 
of  things,  the  uses  of  money,  and  the  objects  of  life  ? 
There  is  no  want  of  clear  speaking  on  these  subjects 
in  the  Word.  It  is  bold,  com-ageous,  searching.  It 
strips  off  conventional  disguises,  exposes  all  sophis- 
try of  selfishness,  and  magnifies  manly,  womanly 
superiority  to  childish  display  and  ostentatious  trap- 
pings. It  makes  no  more  of  royal  purple,  and 
glittering  gems  on  the  godless,*  than  we  do  of  the 
feathers  and  war-paint  of  the  savage.  As  the  Re- 
deemer was  not  carried  away,  like  His  disciples, 
with  admiration  of  the  goodly  stones  with  which.  Je- 
rusalem's temple  was  built,  for  His  eyes  had  seen  the 
heavenly  Zion,  so  the  soul  that  has  been  taught  the 

*  1  Tim.  V.  6. 


214:  WISE  MEN  AND  MAGICIANS. 

value  of  unsearchable  riches,  and  the  glory  of  the 
inheritance  of  the  saints,  rates  at  their  true  worth  the 
transient  dignities  that  money  or  position  confers. 
To  form  the  judgment  and  correct  human  estimates 
is  no  mean  part  of  the  work  of  the  ministry.  Present 
possessions  are  to  be  seen  and  rated  in  the  light  of  the 
enduring  and  eternal.   - 

3.  Our  time  overestimates  the  ralue  of  physical 
studies.  They  do,  undoubtedly,  interest,  fascinate, 
and  in  some  degree,  refine.  ]^or  is  their  attraction 
wholly  sentimental.  They  enrich  and  multiply  power. 
Applied  chemistry,  electricity,  and  mineralogy  ren- 
der substantial  service  to  mankind,  while  they  open 
up  the  way  to  wealth  to  the  possessors  of  the  power 
of  knowledge.  Men  who  disclose  the  secrets  of 
nature,  like  the  wise  men  and  magicians  of  the 
Orient,  secure  the  favor  of  princes  and  the  confidence 
and  veneration  of  the  masses.  Hence,  like  the  wise 
men  of  old,  they  become  recognized  as  authorities  on 
all  subjects.  Yet  it  does  not  follow  that  a  man 
whose  natural  powers  and  close  observation  have  made 
him  an  authority  on  rocks,  minerals,  or  magnetism, 
should  be,  therefore,  an  oracle  in  morals  or  religion. 
A  microscope  does  not  magnify  an  obscure  point  in 


APPROPRIATE  EVIDENCE.  215 

law  or  casuistry.  A  telescope  does  not  bring  spirit- 
iial  forces  any  nearer,  or  disclose  Him  who  is  invisible. 
Yet  is  this  forgotten,  and  an  eminent  specialist  in 
natural  history  will  be  presumed  by  many  infallible  in 
philosophy  or  religion. 

The  pulpit  has  a  duty  here,  not  to  frown  on 
or  discourage  physical  science,  which  has  a  distinct 
and  most  honorable  sphere,  but  to  show  its  place,  and 
to  constrain  the  attention  of  the  physicist  himself,  if 
he  will  hear,  to  the  great  concurrent  facts  of  the  moral 
and  spiritual  world.  It  is  not  science  that  does  harm  ; 
but  its  exclusive  study.  The  mind  molded  by  the 
methods  of  this  study  grows  insolent  and  arrogant, 
suspects  and  rejects  the  facts  that  cannot  be  verified 
under  the  dissecter's  knife  or  in  the  crucible.  Nor  is 
it  true  and  thoro'ugh  science,  as  a  rule,  that  ^ is  skepti- 
cal, but  half-educated  and  shoi't-sighted  technical 
knowledge,  which  only  takes  cognizance  of  what 
it  has  scrutinized — like  the  blind  man  who  felt  the  leg 
of  an  elephant  and  pronounced  the  animal  to  be  an 
upright  pillar,  while  his  blind  companion,  who  got 
hold  of  the  trunk,  pronounced  him  soft  and  flexible 
like  a  serpent. 

Thfe  teaching  of  divine  truth,  not  controversially, 


216  PEIL080PHEBS  PUZZLED. 

but  clearly  and  positively,  is  the  check  on  their 
excesses.  Natural  philosophers  study  God  as  Creator. 
Christian  ministers  have  to  exhibit  Him  also  as 
Father.  The  natural  philosopher  has  one  record,  the 
Christian  minister  has  two.  The  natural  philosopher 
is  apt  to  make  law  inviolable  ;  to  sell  the  universe  to 
law.  The  Christian  minister  sees  God  in  the  laws, 
and  counts  them  but  his  thoughts.  A  boy  has  a 
repeater  given  him,  but  does  not  know  it  from 
an  ordinary  watch.  He  hears  its  tickings  and  watches 
its  hands.  He  knows  the  laws  of  its  nature,  he  sup- 
poses. But  when  he  is  shown  its  repeating  power 
and  hears  it  strike,  he  is  amazed,  startled.  But  he 
soon  sees  that  its  repeating  power  is  as  much  the  law 
of  the  watch  as  its  time-keeping  power,  and  was  as 
truly  provided  for  in  its  structure.  Natural  philoso- 
phy, at  the  present  moment,  is  sorely  puzzled  by 
prayer.  It  is  an  impenetrable  mystery  to  it.  It 
reasons  against  it  as  the  sophist  did  against  walking. 
What  shall  we  do  ?  As  the  philosopher  did,  in  reply, 
who  walked,  so  "  let  us  pray."  However  otherwise 
mistaken,  he  had  a.  good,  true  thought,  who  said : — 

"  Brothers  !  spare  reasoning ;  men  have  settled  long 
That  ye  are  out  of  date,  and  they  are  wise  ; 


JUST  A  UTIIORITY.  <2,VJ 

Use  tlieir  own  weapons  ;  let  your  words  be  strong. 

Your  cry  be  loud,  till  each  scared  boaster  files  ; 
Thus  the  Apostles  tamed  the  pagan  breast. 
They  argued  not,  but  preached  ;  and  conscience  did  the  rest."  * 

We  should  hardly  think  of  inakine^  an  overesti- 
mate of  the  fine  arts  a  special  mark  of  our  time.  It 
is  the  common  snare  of  all  wealthy  and  luxurious 
communities  to  overrate  the  imitative  products  of 
men.  How  high  art-culture  may  be,  and  how  low 
the  moral  and  spiritual  life  of  its  votaries  may  be, 
one  may  see  in  the  Medicis,  in  Leo  X.,  and  his  time, 
in  the  Augustan  age  of  Rome,  and  of  France.  Cor- 
rupt religious  systems  easily  accommodate  themselves 
to  such  tastes,  and  embody  their  results  in  worship  ; 
but  there  is  no  evidence  of  resulting  spiritual  gain. 
The  tribute  to  art  has  commonly  been  paid  at  the 
expense  of  religion. 

Nor  do  we  specify,  though  we  do  not  ignore,  the 
tendency  to  idolize  genius.  To  how  many  has 
Charles  Dickens  been  a  prophet  ?  But  men  are  not 
necessarily  authorities  in  all  fields  because  they  are 
effective  painters  or  word-painters.      As  absurd   as 

*  Verses  on  Various  Occasions,  by  John  H.  Newman. 
(This  was  written  in  1833.) 


218  BETTER  SIGNS. 

to  make  a  pedestrian,  whose  feats  of  so  many  miles 
in  so  many  hom'S  have  amazed  or  amused,  an  author- 
ity on  Christian  walk  and  conversation,  or  to  rely  on 
a  man  for  astronomical  wisdom  because  he  was  tall 
and  had  good  eye-sight,  or  on  Turner  as  "a  botanist 
because  he  painted  stone-pines,  or  as  a  ship-builder 
because  he  succeeded  on  ships — as  absurd  is'  it  to 
clothe  a  man  with  authority  in  every  department  of 
human  thought  because  he  is  eminent  in  one.  The 
truth  with  which  we  have  to  do  has  its  own  plane, 
its  own  appropriate  evidences,  its  own  tests,  its  own 
authorities,  and  the  wayfaring  man,  though  a  fool, 
is  as  open  to  the  spirit's  guidance  in  it  as  is  the  most' 
penetrating  genius.  "  Let  God  be  true,  and  every 
man  a  liar." 

Turn  now  to  the  cheerful  aspects  of  our  times,  and 
in  view  of  which  Christian  preachers  ought  to  be 
strong  and  of  a  good  courage. 

1.  We  hail  as  a  good  sign  the  independence  of 
thought  of  our  time.  Human  authority  does  not  go 
unchallenged.  The  mere  name  of  Aristotle  or  of  Plato 
does  not  silence  an  objector.  The  old  kings  of  mind, 
who  ruled  so  long  and  so  despotically,  "  have  gone 
out  of  business."     Men  do  not  bow  their  heads  at  the 


NOTHINO  TO  FEAR.  219 

name  of  the  Fathers.  Councils  are  regarded  as  gath- 
erings of  so  many  fallible  men,  and  no  nearer  infal- 
libility from  their  meeting  than  a  thousand  ciphers 
without  a  whole  number  are  nearer  to  value  from 
the  addition  of  another  thousand.  "  The  Church  " 
does  not,  by  the  mere  mention  of  the  name,  forbid 
inquiry.  The  State  is  limited  in  its  functions.  Time 
was,  and  yet  is,  where  to  decline  its  clergy  must  be 
constructive  disloyalty  to  its  king.  Men  feel  their 
right  to  discuss,  examine,  and  investigate.  They  are 
like  children  new-fangled  with  the  pretty  things 
■physical  science  has  brought  them  ;  but  the  childhood 
•will  pass  away.  If  some  are  in  the  state  of  mind 
described  by  Lord  Bacon,*  "  a  little  philosophy  in- 
clineth  a  man's  mind  to  atheism,"  others  are  at  the 
further  and  happier  stage,  "  but  depth  in  philosophy 
bringeth  men's  minds  about  to  religion." 

The  Christian  minister  need  not  fear  this  inde- 
pendence. Let  us  rejoice  in  it.  We  stand  on  a 
revelation  that  says,  "  Prove  all  things,  hold  fast  that 
which  is  good."t  It  is  a  good  time  in  which  to  live. 
These  gales  will  do  no  permanent  harm.     If  branches 

*  Bacon's  Essays,  xvi.,  on  Atheism.  f  1  Thess.  v.  1. 


220        ■  IKFIDELITY  OVERRATED. 

and  trunks  come  down,  it  is  mostly  the  rotten,  and 
the  growing  and.  healthy  trees  grow  better  and  take 
root  the  deeper  for  the  blasts.  Any  thought  is  bet- 
ter than  none ;  a  breeze  with  even  wild  waves  is 
healthier  than  a  stagnant,  dead  sea.  We  have,  I  do 
believe,  greatly  ovei*rated  the  relative  power  of  infi- 
delity in  our  time.  "When  Bishop  Butler  issued  his 
Analogy  he  stated  in  tlie  preface  that  it  had  come  to 
be  taken  for  granted  that  the  Christian  religion  was 
not  worth  arguing  about,  and  men  were  hastening  to 
take  revenge  for  the  restraints  it  had  imposed  on 
them.  Where  is  there  any  infidelity  now  with  the 
genius,  the  boldness,  the.  conscious  power,  the  popu- 
lar acceptance  it  enjoyed  in  the  days  of  Rousseau 
Yoltaire,  and  Diderot?  There  is  more  living  reli- 
gion in  the  Episcopal  Church,  or  in  any  one  of  two 
or  three  English  denominations  now,  than  in  all 
Great  Britain  in  the  beginning  of  this  century. 
There  never  was  as  strong  and  intelligent  a  Chris- 
tian sentiment  in  the  world  as  there  is  at  this  mo- 
ment, never  so  rich  a  Christian  literature,  never  were 
so  many  living  believers.  There  is  more  Christian 
knowledge  in  Europe  than  a1?  any  time  for  the  last 
thousand  years,  and  America  and  Australia  represent 


CHRISTIANS  ASSURED.  221 

a  new  world  of  life  and  vigor.  ISTor  is  the  heart  of 
Christendom  less  liopeful  tlian  it  ever  was.  "  The 
ages  of  faith  "  of  which  many  rhapsodize,  were  ages 
of  much  superstition,  of  crusades,  of  Flagellantes,  of 
intolerance,  of  schoolmen,  of  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines, 
of  much  baptized  heathenism.  The  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  fears  nothing  from  real  free  thought.  Her 
members  are  its  truest  friends  and  wisest  patrons. 
She  does  not  tremble  before  Greek  as  bringing  in  all 
heresies.  Her  travelers  explore  the  lands  of  the 
Bible,  dig  into  the  ruins  of  emj)ires,  exhume  the 
bones  of  ancient  kings,  and  feel  assured  that  the 
alleged  home  of  the  Bible  will  not  disown  it.  His- 
tory is  not  dreaded ;  criticism  of  the  destructive  kind, 
as  it  was  called,  has  had  its  day.  The  friends  of  the 
Bible  do  not  "  peep  and  mutter,"  but  stand  on  the 
housetops  and  call  for  evidence  from  every  quarter. 
Ancient  MSS.  are  worth  their  weight  in  gold  to 
Christians ;  mummies  from  l^ineveh,  and  bricks 
from  Babylon — all  are  in  demand ;  aud  Christian 
scholarship  counts  on  their  corroboration  of  the 
Christian  faith.  It  is  a  grand  time  in  which  to  live 
and  labor  as  ministers.  Our  preaching  should  re- 
spond to  every  cry  for  light  and  life.     We  proclaim 


222  MORE  HUMANITY. 

liberty  to  the  captives.  We  have  no  wish  to  com- 
raand  the  winds  of  free  thought  back  to  their  cave. 
Christianity  emancipates  mind,  and  brings  it  into 
discipleship  to  Him  whose  service  is  freedom.  It 
welcomes  all  restlessness  under  human  yokes,  and 
says  to  every  human  spirit  that  is  tugging  at  its 
chains,  "  If  the  Son  shall  make  you  free  ye  shall  be 
free  indeed."* 

2.  There  is  more  humanity  in  this  age  than  ever 
before.  Ethnology  does  no  harm.  All  men  are  of 
one  blood,  it  declares,  in  concert  with  the  Scrip- 
tures.f  War  is  deprecated  as  a  cruel  necessity,  not 
gloried  in  as  the  proper  work  of  man.  It  needs  to 
be  justified  to  the  conscience  of  mankind.  It  never 
was  attended  by  so  many  means  of  mitigating  its 
horrors.  How  many  chains  our  eyes  have  seen 
broken  !  Labor  was  never  so  much  lightened.  The 
miner  is  free  and  the  factory  child  gets  to  school. 
Reformatories,  asylums,  prison-discipline,  have  super- 
seded the  hulks  and  Botany  Bay. 

This  is  to  be  noted  by  the  preacher.  Humanity, 
born   of  the   Scripture,  is  to  be  brought  up  at  its 

"  *  Jolin  viii.  36.  f  Acts  xvii.  26. 


REVIVED  CHURCH-LIFE.  223 

parent's  knee,  guided  and  directed.  The  clergy  need 
not  toil  on  every  specific  plan  of  benevolence,  but 
they  supply  the  fuel,  and  feed  the  flame  of  Christian 
compassion.  They  are  commonly  the  wisest,  best, 
and  most  disinterested  friends  of  every  beneficent 
agency,  and  they  are  so  to  bring  Bible  principles  to 
bear,  that  weak  sent^entalism  or  mechanical  rou- 
tine shall  not  supersede  the  true  reforming  agency, 
in  the  manifested  love  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ. 

3.  The  Church  is  coming  back  to  what  she  was  be- 
fore the  age  of  Constantine,  when  civil  power  took 
her  work  too  much  in  hand, — to  what,  in  her  purest 
portions,  she  was  in  the  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  cen- 
turies. For  it  is  historically  true  that  as  she  was 
evangelical  she  was  missionary ;  as  she  ceased  to  be 
evangelical  she  ceased  to  be  evangelistic.  The  Ref- 
ormation revived  this  zeal  in  both  the  Reformed  and 
Roman  Catholic  communions  ;  for  no  one  who  has 
not  read  and  reflected  estimates  aright  the  extent  to 
which  the  Reformation  revived  even  the  Church  of 
Rome. 

"We  must  guide  and  maintain  this  missionary  spirit 
by  exhibiting  the  genius  of  Scripture,  the  uses  of  the 
Church,  the  lights  of  prophecy  shining  over  so  many 


224  STANDING  TOGETHER. 

dark  places,  the  noble  examples  of  saints,  the  true 
motives  and  means,  the  authoritative  instructions  of 
the  Master,  and  the  magnificence  of  the  coming  fu- 
ture. It  is  of  little  use  to  tell  men  to  be  good.  The 
Gospel  only  shows  us  how  enmity  is  exchanged  for 
reconciliation,  and  how  power  to  do  good  is  given  for 
the  previous  bondage  to  sin.     ♦ 

4.  The  yearning  for  Christian  union  is  a  favorable 
feature  of  our  time.  There  are  various  ways  of 
satisfying  it — wise  and  foolish.  The  "  Solemn  League 
and  .Covenant "  contemplated  one  method,  of  which 
the  counterpart  was  tried  on  this  continent.  The 
English  Government  tried  another  way  in  making  all 
civil  officers  communicants.  It  is  a  mark  of  the  prog- 
ress of  opinion  that  we  now  see  the  folly  and  the 
mischief  of  such  a  plan.  This  spirit  of  union  is  to  be 
directed  from  the  pulpit.  Denominationalism  has  its 
use ;  but  we  are  to  guard  against  its  abuse.  I  have 
no  notion  of  being  cut  off  from  that  historic  Christian 
Church,  which  was  before  the  Papacy,  and  may  be 
traced  during  the  night  of  pre-Reformation  times  by 
the  fires  of  persecution ;  nor  from  the  Waldenses  of 
JSTorthern  Italy  ;  nor  the  Albigenses  of  Southern 
Trance ;  nor  from  Latimer,  Ussher,  Barrow,  Butler,  and 


THE  ONE  FAMILY.  225 

Lei^hton  ;  nor  from  the  Puritans  of  England  in  the 
national  Chnrch  or  out  of  it ;  nor  from  their  descend- 
ants ;  nor  from  the  Scottish  believers — rugged  like 
their  native  mountains,  but  firm  like  them  ;  nor  from 
Wesley  and  Whitfield ;  nor  from  Carey,  and  Andrew 
Fuller,  and  Robert  Hall ;  nor  from  Oliver  Cromwell, 
and  Selden,  and  John  Owen ';  nor,  if  you  can  show  me 
successors  in  the  Communion  of  Rome  to  Blaise  Pas- 
cal, and  Fenelon,  and  Thomas  a  Kempis,  from  them. 
They  are  of  the  family  of  which  God  is  the  Father, 
Jesus  the  elder  Brother,  and  in  which  I  claim  mem- 
bership. And^  I  should  count  it  indescribably  base  to 
glorify  these  mighty  dead,  now  at  the  safe  distance 
of  heaven  from  me,  and  to  ignore  their  representatives 
in  the  next  parish,  or  look  with  jealousy  or  coldness 
on  their  successful  labors. 

The  pulpit  is  to  foster  the  spirit  of  union,  which 
does  not  necessarily  imply  organic  union,  the  effort 
after  which  may  be  only  human  pride  striving  for  a 
great  corporation,  but  which  seeks  co-operation,  dis- 
tribution of  resources  at  home,  and  of  laborers  in 
foreign  mission  fields.  Scripture  direction,  reproof, 
and  prediction  are  to  be  brought  to  bear  on  this,  until, 
as  the  Epistles  to   Romans,  Corinthians,  Galatians, 


226  "GUI  BONO?" 

Ephesians,  and  Philippians  lie  side  by  side  in  the 
blessed  volume,  all  marked  by  individual  features,  yet 
all  speaking  the  same  language,  breathing  the  same 
spirit,  doing  the  same  work,  magnifying  the  same 
Lord,  so  the  Churches  of  Jesus  Christ  shall  be  perfect- 
ly joined  together,  animated  by  one  spirit,  wasting  no 
power  on  one  another,  but  "  steadfast  and  unmovable, 
always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord."  The 
Lord  speed  this  most  blessed  era ! 

5.  We  should  notice  the  practical  character  of  our 
times.  Mere  theories  and  abstractions  go  for  little. 
The  idea  that  a  minister's  success  lay  in  the  number 
of  persons  whom  he  induced  to  take  up  his  way,  or 
hire  his  pews,  is  not  now  supreme. 

Like  the  children  in  the  lyric,  as  they  saw  the 
skulls  turned  up  on  Blenheim  battle-field,  and  asked 
the  details  of  the  battle  from  the  old  man,  who  still 
put  in  the  inquiry — 

"  But  what  good  came  of  it,  at  last  ?  " 

so  men  most  properly  ask  now,  and  will  no  more  be 
satisfied  than  the  children  with  the  assurance  that 

"  It  was  a  famous  victory." 

Congregations  must  justify  their  existence.     If  they 


CHRI81IAN8  AT  WORK.  227 

only  bring  people  together  to  be  "  very  much  pleased," 
why,  the  Lecture  Bureaus  will  contract  for  all  that. 
"  Did  you  worship  ?  Were  you  edified  ?  Did  the 
Lord  speak  to  you  ?  Did  you  speak  to  Him  ?  Do 
you  mean  more  seriously  to  be  pure,  lionest,  upright, 
generous,  manly,  holy,  from  what  you  did  and  heard 
f  0-day  ? "  These  are  the  questions  which  the  best  part 
of  mankind  feel  to  be  proper,  and  to  which  we  must 
have  affirmative  replies.  All  this  is  good  for  us,  and 
should  not  be  forgotten.  The  Bible  is  the  most  sensi- 
ble book  in  the  world.  It  has  no  dash  of  romance, 
no  mixture  of  fanaticism,  no  flavor  of  a  mutual  admi- 
ration company.  Its  saints  do  not  convene  to  purr 
over  one  another,  but  to  instruct,  help,  and  edify  one 
another,  and  to  influence  the  world.  "  By  their  fruits 
ye  shall  know  them  "  is  its  axiom.  "  What  fruit  had 
ye  in  those  things,  of  which  ye  are  now  ashamed  ? " 
is  its  fearless  challenge  to  sinners.  We,  who  preach, 
are  to  aim  at  visible  saintship  in  ourselves  and  in  our 
people,  that  this  practical  age  may  see  that  it  is  not  a 
vain  thing  to  serve  the  Lord. 

6.  It  is,  perhaps,  a  part  of  this  practical  element 
that  we  have  so  much  so-called  "  Christian  activity." 
The  varied  forms  of  it  need  n<it  be  specified.     The 


228  FIRST  SELF,  THEN  SERVICE. 

best  impulses  tliereto,  and  the  surest  guidance  there- 
in, must  come  from  the  pulpit.  We  must  help  the 
people  to  discriminate  between  the  energy  of  mere 
human  flesh,  which  is  fussy,  self-asserting,  self-con- 
scious, easily  provoked,  easily  discouraged,  and  the 
power  of  the  spirit,  which  is  quiet,  gentle,  meek,  and, 
in  a  sense,  indomitable. 

We  must  put  all  service  in  its  right  place,  not  as  a 
means  toward  acceptance,  but  as  a  blessed  and  cheer- 
ful fruit  of  it.  "  The  Lord  had  respect  to  Abel  and 
to  his  offering  " — Abel  first,  then  the  offering.  We 
must  keep  the  eye  of  all  Christian  labor  clear,  single, 
looking  right  on.*  "  This  I  do,  O  Christ,  for  thee," 
we  must  keep  up  as  its  motto.  If  this  principle  cuts 
off  some  bazars,  exhibitions,  tableaux,  and  other  fan- 
tastic ways  of  getting  our  money's  worth  of  enjoy- 
ment, and  crediting  it  to  Christ,  I  do  not  think  the 
Church  will  be  much  weaker. 

We  must  keep  up  the  standard  of  Christian  living 
in  the  Christian  laborer.  Clean  hands  are  needed  to 
do  Christian  work.  Character  is  before  co-operation, 
being  before  doing.  "  Take  heed  unto  thyself,  and 
to  the  doctrine."  f 

*  Prov.  iv.  25.  •}■  1  Tim.  iv.  16. 


.     FAITHFUL  IN  ALL.  229 

Thus  from  the  evil  that  we  admit  and  deplore,  but 
no  less  from  the  good  for  which  we  are  glad  and 
thankful,  must  we  draw  motives  to  zeal  and  fidelity, 
and  receive  aids  to  fitness  as  able  ministers  of  the 
IsTew  Testament. 


LECTURE    X. 


The  idea  is  not  to  be  conveyed  by  what  is  said  of 
power  to-day,  that  the  pulpit  has  lost  its  force  and 
usefulness.  That  impression  is  sometimes  given  out 
by  literary  men  in  the  serials  and  magazines.  Liter- 
ary men,  unhappily,  as  a  rule,  are  not,  and  have  not 
been,  docile  pupils  of  the  pulpit.  They  have  been 
apt  to  think  of  themselves  as  instructors  of  mankind  ; 
the  editorial  "  we "  beguiles  them.  They  are  not 
disposed,  by  their  very  professional  life,  to  listen  to 
men  whose  reliance  is  not  on  rhetoric,  or  the  tricks 
of  literary  composition,  but  on  truth  unfamiliar  to 
them,  and  on  language  simple  and  unadorned.  There 
have  been  many  noble  exceptions,  in  men  of  high 
literary  power  and  repute,  with  range  of  view  wide 
enough  to  include  the  spiritual  world,  and  with  re- 
ligious life  sufficiently  vigorous  to  crave  and  feed 
upon  revealed  truth.  I  speak  of  literary  men  as  a 
class.     They  may  be  easily   mistaken   in   their  es- 


POPULAR  FALLACIES.  231 

tiraate ;.  just  as  a  corresponding  error  is  indulged 
regarding  oratory.  You  would  suppose,  to  hear  some 
men  talk,  that  in  the  days  of  Philip  of  Macedon  every 
man  spoke  like  Demosthenes,  and  that  every  Roman 
politician  expressed  himself  like  Cicero.  It  is  for- 
gotten that  it  is  the  pre-eminence  of  Demosthenes 
over  all  his  compeers  that  lifts  him  up  to  our  view, 
that  it  is  because  Cicero  was  head-and-shoulders 
above  his  cotemporaries  that  he  is  an  object  of  ad- 
miration to  us.  So  it  is  with  preachers.  "  "Where," 
men  say,  "  are  the  Summerfields  and  Whitiields  ?  " 
It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  they  towered  above 
their  cotemporaries,  that  they  were  unapproached, 
and  that  in  Whitfield's  case,  at  least,  he  declared  an 
unfamiliar  gospel  in  a  dead  age.  It  would  be  reply 
enough  to  ask  "  Where  were  the  Spurgeons,  the  Mel- 
villes,  the  Robertsons,  the  Guthries,  the  Binneys, 
the  Candlishes,  the  Paysons,  the  Kirks,  the  Alex- 
anders, the  Thornwells,  of  their  time  ? "  Or  suppose 
the  argument  were  applied  to  the  press :  where 
are  the  Horace  Greeleys,  the  Raymonds,  the  Gordon 
Bennetts  of  the  newspaper  world  ?  All  gone — the 
press  is  effete,  the  newspapers  not  worth  reading  ! 
These  identical  men,  or  copies  of  them,  are  not  here. 


232  GIFTS  NOT  WITHDBA  WN. 

There  is  infinite  variety  of  gift,  talent,  and  faculty  ; 
and  the  press,  as  a  whole,  is  as  able,  fresh,  and  vigor- 
ous as  it  ever  was.  The  same  statement  is  emphatic- 
ally true  of  the  pulpit.  You  are  not,  gentlemen, 
going  to  a  sinking  profession.  You  fall  into  no  for- 
forn  hope.  You  sacrifice  yourselves  to  no  lost  cause. 
There  never  was  more  of  energy,  talent,  zeal,  culture, 
and  ability  consecrated  to  Christ  in  the  pulpit  than 
now,  and  you  may  catch  a  certain  inspiration  from 
the  association  with  a  noble,  numerous,  and  devoted 
band  of  fellow-laborers,  inferior  to  no  race  of  minis- 
ters since  the  days  of  the  apostles.  I  think  there 
was  as  much  piety,  learning,  and  ability  in  the  Coun- 
cil at  New  Haven  as  in  the  Council  of  Laodicea  ;  and 
the  Evangelical  Alliance  Conference  at  New  York, 
in  18T3,  would  bear  favorable  comparison,  for  all  that 
should  distinguish  the  Christian  ministry,  with  the 
Council  of  Nice.  1  would  rather  stand  over  Dean 
Alford  than  over  Tertullian,  Jonathan  Edwards  than 
Athenagoras,  Charles  Hodge  than  Jerome,  and  I 
prefer  Moses  Stuart  of  Andover  to  Clement  of  Alex- 
andria. 

If  it  be  alleged  that  most  sermons  do  not  rise  above 
mediocrity,  let  it  be  considered  how  many  men  at 


0  UR  SO  URGES  OF  PO  WER.  233 

the  bar,  in  the  Senate,  in  the  State  Legislatures,  rise 
above  mediocrity.  Make  out  a  list  of  the  noted 
orators  of  secular  life  in  our  own  oratorical  age,  and 
it  is  not  formidably  lengthened. 

What  this  final  Lecture  should  be  entitled  is  not 
very  clear,  but  its  object  is  to  point  out  those  ele- 
ments of  which  we  are  to  take  note  as  combining  to 
give  weight  and  legitimate  authority  in  pastoral 
work,  and  particularly  in  preaching.  If  some  tilings 
are  noticed  on  which  you  have  not  had  occasion  to 
think,  do  not  on  that  account  dismiss  them ;  and  if 
something  be  said  which  is  familiar  to  you,  regard  it,  • 
please,  as  indication  of  the  substantial  identity  of 
what  I  have  been  saying  to  you  with  the  general  in- 
struction you  have  received  here  and  elsewhere,  and  of 
the  oneness  of  Christian  brethren  in  conviction  and  in 
experience,  though  separated  by  form  or  organization. 

1.  There  is  a  legitimate  influence  founded  on  offi- 
cial standing.  Of  course,  if  we  had  no  other  right  to 
be  respectfully  heard ;  or  if  we  paraded  our  license 
to  preach  with  puerile  and  ridiculous  vanity ;  or  if 
we  assumed,  on  the  strength  of  it,  airs  which  even  as 
men  and  as  gentlemen,  we  should  not  affect;  or  if, 
in  virtue  of  being  licensed  and  ordained,  we  walked 


234  MINISTEB8  OF  CHRIST. 

on  stilts,  spoke  loftily,  and  otherwise  displayed  weak- 
ness and  vanity,  we  should  have  slender  claim  to 
respectful  hearing.  It  will  be  easy  to  instance  such 
folly,  to  caricature  it,  and  to  swing  round  to  the  con- 
clusion that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  official  standing. 
But  we  assume  ministers  to  have  the  average  meas- 
ure of  taste,  common  sense,  and  modesty  (if  they 
lack  these  they  should  not  be  ministers) ;  to  be  no 
more  elated  by  their  license  than  a  physician  by  his 
diploma,  or  an  officer  by  his  commission  ;  and  no  more 
reliant  on  the  license  for  success  than  the  doctor  on 
his  parchment  or  the  officer  on  his  uniform.  To  such 
a  man  there  is  a  certain  amount  of  inliuence  derived 
from  his  official  standing.  That  influence  he  carries 
to  the  pulpit.  This  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact 
that  the  first  ministers,  meek  and  lowly  as  they  were, 
do  not  fail  to  put  their  commission  forward  on. all 
proper  occasions.  It  is  needless  to  quote  the  intro- 
ductions to  the  epistles,  many  allusions  in  the  body 
of  the  letters,  and  many  arguments  and  appeals 
founded   on    their   commission.*     They   were   mes- 

*  See  Acts  x.  42  ;  xx.  24 ;  Rom.  i.  1  ;  xv.  16  ;  1  Cor.  i.  1  ;  iv. 
1  ;  2  Cor.  i.  1  ;  iii.  6  ;  iv.  1  ;  xiii.  10 ;  Gal.  i.  1  ;  Phil.  i.  1,  etc.  ; 
1  Tim.  i.  1,  12  ;  1  Pet.  i.  1  ;  v.  1. 


ELSE,  WHY  ORDAIN?  235 

sengers  whose  consequence  depended  on  the  Sender, 
embassadors  whose  position  was  fixed  by  the  King 
they  represented,  and  they  were  miraculously  at- 
tested as  sent  of  God.  Tiiey  never  took  pains  to 
disclaim  this  official  standing,  or  to  denude  them- 
selves of  any  regard  it  might  inspire.  In  all  the  suf- 
ferings, hardships,  and  perils  of  the  time,  they  never 
shrink  from  the  common  lot  of  Christians.  They 
will  be  as  Jews  to  Jews,  as  Greeks  to  Greeks ;  they 
will  make  tents,  beg  money,  minister  to  saints,  do 
anything  for  their  good ;  but  it  is  as  ministers  of 
Jesus  Christ.  ISTot  only  so,  but,  if  you  will  think  of 
it,  all  self-renunciation,  all  condescension  to  men  of 
low  estate  will  be  enhanced  in  its  value  by  the  dis- 
tinct official  position  of  those  who  enjoy  the  honor, 
but  have  none  of  the  insolence  of  office. 

And  that  men  so  understand  it  is  proved  by  the 
whole  machinery  of  associations,  councils,  presbyt- 
eries, or  whatever  other  bodies  recognize,  set  apart, 
or  ordain.  Why  do  they  exist,  if  not  to  give  such 
standing  ?  and  why  give  it,  if  it  is  worthless,  and 
there  is  some  merit  in  disclaiming  every  sign  of  it? 
In  this  regard  we  only  carry  out  the  plan  of  Scrip- 
ture.    There  were  some  who  had  the  rule,  whoever 


236  FRATERNAL  FEELING. 

they  were,  wlio  were  to  be  honored  and  obeyed. 
There  were  office-bearers,  as  distinguished  from  mem- 
bers, clothed  with  authority,  according  to  Christ's 
laws,  to  administer  the  government  of  His  house. 
That  authority  is  not  lordly,  discretionary,  nor  legis- 
lative, but  ministerial ;  that  is,  in  submission  to  the 
word  of  the  Master.  They  are  not  infallible ;  nor  is 
their  right  to  interpret  the  Divine  Word  exclusive. 
But  the  authority  is  real  notwithstanding,  however  it 
may  be  regarded  or  limited ;  there  is  something  in 
the  position  before  the  Church  to  which  God  calls 
a  man  through  His  Spirit,  the  Church  having  recog- 
nized that  call. 

I^ow,  there  seems  to  me  no  special  wisdom  in 
affecting  to  ignore  all  this,  and  reducing  ourselves 
to  the  ranks.  We  are  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
we  are  to  be  careful  that  the  office  suffers  no  con- 
spicuous dishonor  through  us.  "We  have  brethren  in 
the  ministry  who  stand  to  us  in  a  different  relation 
from  that  of  ordinary  believers,  and  it  does  not  ap- 
pear to  me  out  of  place  here  to  urge  you  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  a  true  brotherly  feeling.  Ministers  ought 
to  be  able  to  sympathize  with  a  minister  better  than 
laymen  can  do.      We  are  bound  to  stand  by  our 


TRAINED  MIND.  237 

order,  all  the  more  from  this,  that  the  world  is  ready 
to  judge  ministers  more  severely  than  any  other 
class.  We  are  bound  to  strengthen  each  other  with 
the  people,  to  discourage  querulous  reports  and  gos- 
sip from  them  regarding  their  ministers,  and  to 
render  mutual  aid  in  difficulties  and  perplexities. 
We  are  to,  frown  on  the  idea  of  rivalry,  to  scorn  the 
policy  of  drawing  members  from  our  brethren.*  We 
are  to  show,  by  cordial  co-operation  with  brethren, 
that  the  cause  of  Jesus  Christ  is  greater  to  us  than 
individual  interests,  and  to  carry  one  another  in 
prayer  before  the  throne  of  our  common  Lord. 

2.  We  have  the  power  of  educated  mind.  We 
are  taught  to  set  things  in  order,  to  make  them  clear, 
to  illustrate  truth,  to  present  it  persuasively  and 
agreeably.  We  have  advantages  common  to  us  with 
all  educated  speakers.  These  we  are  not  to  despise. 
God  employs  fitting  instruments  for  the  doing  of 
His  work.  He  said  of  Aaron  :  "  I  know  that  he  can 
speak  welL"  He  sent  on  the  Apostles  tongues  of 
fire. 

*  See  an  admirable  paragraph  on  this  subject  in  Vinet's  Pas- 
toral Theology,  Fourth  Part,  ch.  iii.,  on  "  Relations  of  Ecclesias- 
tics among  themselves." 


238  SPECIAL  PREPARATION. 

]S^ow,  we  have  special  education.  We  are  trained 
to  set  forth  the  truth  of  God.  "We  have  studied  the 
best  modes  of  presenting  it.  "We  have  not  only 
general  intelligence  on  this  matter,  but,  when  we 
stand  up  to  preach,  that  particular  sermon  is  the 
fruit  of  special  study.  You  will,  as  you  look  over 
your  audience,  see  many  men  who  know  much  of 
which  you  are  ignorant,  who  perhaps  know  moral  or 
religious  truth,  as  a  whole,,  better  than  you  do ;  who 
have  wider  general  information,  more  varied  obser- 
vation, a  quicker  wit  than  yours  ;  but  you  have  gone 
to  the  store-house  of  truth,  have  made  sure  that  you 
have  a  portion  of  it  to  give  there  and  then,  which  you 
have  mastered  for  that  time,  and  of  which,  at  the 
moment,  you  have  more  exact  present  knowledge 
than  any  of  your  hearers.  This  may  give  confidence 
and  a  certain  sense  of  power  in  your  speaking.  Nor 
must  it  be  forgotten  that,  as  Schleiermacher  tried  to 
teach  his  countrymen,  religion  is  not  only  in  the 
region  of  knowing  or  in  the  region  of  doing,  but 
of  feeling  and  affection,  assimilating  the  knowledge 
and  stimulating  to  action.  Nothing  that  has  been. 
said  in  these  lectures  is  meant  or,  it  is  believed, 
fitted  to  depreciate  vigorous  mind  or  high  education 


■WEIGHT  OF  CHARACTER.  239 

in  the  pulpit.  The  more  of  both  we  have  in  the 
service  of  Christ  in  His  Church  the  better.  But 
even  ordinary  average  mind,  thoroughly  trained,  can 
go  about  its  proper  work  in  preaching  with  the  same 
kind  of  confidence  with  which  ordinary  average 
mind,  professionally  trained,  does  its  work  in  the 
dispensary  or  the  court-room. 

3.  We  have  the  power  of  moral  character.  "  For 
he  was  a  good  man,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of 
faith  ;  "and  much  people  was  added  unto  the  Lord:"  * 
Is  this  collocation  of  phrases  purely  accidental? 
You  are  known  to  be  sincere,  disinterested,  honest, 
desirous  of  doing  good.  You  have  lived  and  labored 
among  the  people.  You  remember  Paul's  appeal  to 
the  Thessalonians :  "  For  our  Gospel  came  not  unto 
you  in  word  only,  but  in  power,  and  in  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  in  much  assm-ance;  as  ye  know  what 
manner  of  men  we  were  among  you  for  your  sake."  f 
Let  there  be  habitual  emphasis  on  that  element "  for 
your  sake."  There  is  power  from  unselfish  service — 
from  living  habitually  before  men's  eyes  a  blameless, 
beneficent  life.     The  man  is  felt  to  be  greater  than 

*  Acts  xi.  24.  t  1  Thess.  i.  5. . 


240  PATIENT  CONTINUANCE. 

what  he  says.  It  is  a  part  of  which  he  is  the  whole ; 
and  his  personality  is  behind  his  speech.  All  the 
weight  of  him  is  with  his  words,  as  the  force  of  a 
blow  is  measured  in  a  gymnasium  by,  not  that  of  the 
arm  only,  but  also  of  the  body  that  is  behind  the 
arm.  So,  gentlemen,  when  you  are  toiling  in  a 
community,  looking  up  the  lapsed,  reclaiming  the 
drunkard,  persuading  the  careless  to  set  up  a  family 
altar  and  make  a  true  home,  drawing  children  to  the 
feet  of  Jesus,  comforting  the  broken-hearted,  helping 
tottering  steps  back  into  the  ways  of  virtue  and  self- 
respect,  mingling  your  tears  with  those  of  the  miser- 
able, or  your  gladness  with  the  joys  of  the  happy, 
praying  with  distracted  parents  by  the  cradle  of  their 
dying  child — though  you  are  not  adding  anything  to 
your  piles  of  manuscripts  or  your  stores  of  book- 
learning,  you  are  adding  to  the  power  with  which 
the  individual  sermon  goes  to  the  hearts  of  the 
hearers. 

It  will  be  obvious  that  the  acquisition  of  this  moral 
power  depends  on  the  prosecution  of  ministerial  labor 
in  a  right  spirit ;  for  obvious  selfishness,  vanity,  self- 
seeking,  petulance,  impatience,  and  all  such  levity  as 
the  judgment  of  the  people  counts  out  of  place,  will 


BLESSINGS  BY  TUE  WAY.  241 

seriously  binder  its  attainment.*  The  poor  woman 
who,  instead  of  replying  to  an  impatient  speech  of 
her  pastor,  lifted  np  her  hands  and  ejes  and  ex- 
claimed, "Would  to  God  I  had  never  heard  your 
voice  but  in  the  pulpit ! "  administered,  all  uncon- 
sciously, a  rebuke  which  wo  must  take  care  not  to 
deserve.  And  if  we  are  sometimes  tired  with  half- 
comprehending,  dull,  perverse,  or  narrow  good  peo- 
ple, or  by  "unreasonable  men,"  let  us  remember  how 
much  was  endured  by  Him  who  became  "  a  minister 
of  the  circumcision."  Let  us  also  bear  in  mind  how 
often  we,  like  the  earliest  Christian  preachers,  have 
been  foolish,  and  slow-hearted  in  believing.  And  let 
us  set  over  against  the  vexations  the  incidental  favors 
which,  in  addition  to  the  great  reward  in  heaven,  a 
most  merciful  and  generous  master  throws  in  by  the 
way,  as  we  do  the  work  of  the  ministry.  How  much 
confidence  is  given  us !     How  much   appreciation ! 

*  And  tliis  will  be  a  rule  of  action  to  ministers.  In  many  in- 
stances they  might,  without  injury  to  themselves,  do  or  enjoy 
that  which  would  "  offend  "  the  people.  And  in  matters  of  mere 
personal  gratification,  a  true  minister  will  forego  rights,  because 
he  is  bent  on  duties.  He  will  avoid  that  which,  though  to  him 
indifferent  or  innocent,  yet  would  raise  a  prej  udice  against  his 
message. 


242  TEE  WORD  IS  POWERFUL. 

How  often,  when  we  are  despising  ourselves  for  mis- 
erable preaching,  some  true  child  of  God  comes  and, 
half-ashamed  to  intrude,  says,  It  has  done  me  so  much 
good  !  How  many  praj^ers  go  up  for  us  from  aged 
disciples,  young  converts,  and  little  children  !  How 
much  more  human  affection  we  enjoy  than  we  de- 
serve !  When  a  fellow-laborer  of  mine  died,  who 
had  no  cares  but  his  parish,  and  not  much  to  recom- 
mend him  but  his  ministerial  devotedness,  a  poor 
waitress,  a  member  in  his  church,  said  to  me,  with 
sobs  and  tears,  "  I  loved  him — next  to  my  own  fiither 
— the  best  in  all  the  world."  It  is  worth  much  to 
have  the  grateful  regard  of  true  hearts,  however 
lowly. 

4.  We  have  the  j^ower  of  the  word  of  Grod.  What 
He  makes  has  perfect  fitness  for  its  end.  All  the 
world  is  adapted  to  man.  Hence  we  construct  our 
argument  for  the  unity  (not  necessarily  the  unicity, 
or  numerical  oneness,  but  the  unity,  which  implies 
plurality)  of  God.  He  who  made  the  cattle  made 
the  grass  which  is  fitted  to  them,  as  they  are  to  man. 
But  the  maker  of  the  grass  is  maker  of  the  seasons  on 
which  it  is  dependent.  But  the  seasons  depend  on 
the  earth's  movements,  and  it  on  the  arrangements 


THE  WORD  INCARNATE.  243 

of  the  solar  system ;  so  one  plan  runs  through  all,  and 
one  divine  mind  arranged  and  completed  the  whole 
complicated  system.  Now,  if  all  the  parts  of  the  uni- 
verse be  fitted  for  their  uses,  it  is  fair  to  conclude 
that  the  same  is  true  of  His  word  which  He  has  so 
much  magnified.  Let  us  believe  in  it  as  perfectly 
adapted  to  the  objects  of  our  ministry. 

It  is  easy,  indeed,  to  trace  the  progress  of  revela- 
tion, the  influences  that  formed  the  mind  of  prophets 
and  apostles,  the  chances  to  which  manuscripts  and 
versions  have  been  exposed,  the  variety  of  "readings," 
and  the  human  features  which  the  book,  by  its  very 
nature,  wears.  One  may  so  pertinaciously  dwell  on 
all  these,  that  it  shall  seem  to  him  as  not  very  diifei"- 
ent  from  a  good  human  book.  .  Thus  men  have  so 
exclusively  dwelt  on  the  human  experiences  of  our 
Saviour's  life,  His  birth  and  growth,  His  hunger, 
thirst,  weariness,  dying,  and  His  expressions  of  what 
was  true  of  Him  as  man,  that  they  have  ignored  His 
divine  nature  and  eternal  existence.  JSTow  the  word 
written  is  like  the  Word  incarnate — it  has  a  human 
and  a  divine  side,  and  we  must  not,  in  studying  its 
lower,  lose  sight  of  its  higher,  nature.  It  is  "  quick 
and  powerful,  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword." 


244  TEE  WORD  WRITTEN. 

(Heb  iv.  12.)  Let  us  have  confidence  in  it.  Let  us 
take  "  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  which  is  the  word  of 
God."  (Eph.  vi.  12.)  The  military  officer  having 
had  his  sword  ground  and  sharpened  for  the  cam- 
paign— a  preparation  such  as  your  studies  here  are 
meant  to  give  you — does  not  wrap  it  around  with 
flowers  or  ribbons.  Tliat  were  childish.  Nor  must 
we  lessen  the  power  of  the  word  to  cut  and  penetrate, 
by  wraj^ping  it  in  our  poetry,  speculation,  and  philos- 
ophy. Let  it — ^itself — with  its  two  edges  reach  the 
soul  and  spirit.  It  will  discern  "  the  thoughts  of  the 
heart."  Men  will  think  some  one  rejjorted  their 
cases  to  us,  as  the  word  lays  them  bare.  They  will 
say  "  That  was  for  me  ; "  for  it  is  powerful  to  awaken, 
to  reveal,  to  cast  down  imaginations,  to  expose  refuges 
of  lies,  to  convince  of  sin,  to  cheer,  to  comfort,  to 
stimulate,  to  sanctify. 

Let  us  preach  the  law  for  evangelical  purposes,  that 
men,  judged  and  condemned  of  their  own  consciences 
and  coming  to  God  in  Christ,  may  escape  being  con- 
demned of  Him.  Let  us  so  preach  the  Gospel  that 
we  shall  magnify  the  law,  and  establish  it.  Divine 
mercy  is  not  a  grave  in  which  Justice  is  buried  out 
of  sight ;  nor  is  Jesus  a  milder  divinity  who  prc»pi- 


BELIEVE  AND  OBEY.  245 

tiates  a  stern  avenger,  God  so  loved  the  world  that 
He  gave  Jesus  Christ — "  tliat  whosoever  believeth 
in  Him  should  not  perish  but  have  eternal  life." 
"Yea,  we  establish  the  law."  Christ,  in  making 
atonement,  is  the  exponent  and  expression  of  Eternal 
Love.  His  cross  is,  at  the  same  time,  the  mightiest 
contribution  to  the  majesty  of  law  tlie  world  has  ever 
seen.  In  Him  God  is  just,  and  yet  the  justifier  of 
the  believer. 

Let  us  be  evangelical,  like  Paul,  Peter,  and  John. 
Let  us  be  ethical,  like  James ;  and,  if  we  catch  the 
spirit  of  all,  we  shall  feel  and  exhibit  no  real  contra- 
diction. We  shall  see  Paul  and  James,  two  disciples 
going  on  their  Master's  business,  when  they  are 
assailed  before  and  behind.  Self-righteousness  is 
faced  by  Paul.  "  By  the  deeds  of  the  law  shall  no 
flesh  be  justified."  "  A  man  is  justified  by  faith 
without  the  deeds  of  the  law."*  These  are  his  blows 
at  the  enemy  to  whom  he  is  opposed.  Licentiousness, 
in  whatever  form  it  perverts  grace  into  a  cover  for 
sin,  has  to  be  grappled  with  by  James.     "  O,  vain 

*  Rom,  iii.,  20,  28.  It  waa  not,  surely,  a  mere  accident  that 
tliis  demonstration  should  have  been  made  "  to  all  that  be  in 
Rome." 


246  P^  UL  AND  JAMES. 

man  !  faith  without  works  is  dead."  "  By  works  a 
man  is  justified,  and  not  by  faith  only."*  These  are 
his  blows  at  his  foe.  Do  not  be  afraid.  He  is  not 
striking  at  Paul,  nor  Paul  at  him.  They  are  not 
foes,  but  friends,  as  Arnot  somewhere  puts  it, "  back  to 
back."  Each  has  his  own  foe,  and  each  is  fighting 
his  single  combat ;  but  they  are  on  the  same  side. 
"  The  battle  is  the  Lord's."  And  if  we  set  forth  the 
same  truths  in  the  same  connections  we  shall,  pos- 
sibl}^,  be  charged  witli  inconsistency,  bat  the  desired 
result  will  be  reached,  and  our  hearers  will  be  "  doers 
of  the  word  and  not  hearers  only." 

Have  we  not  seen  how  often  men  of  rude  speech 
and  narrow  mind,  with  little  grace  of  manner,  often 
with  glaring  faults  of  thought  and  reasoning,  great 
deficiency  in  taste,  and  even  a  spice  of  egotism,  have 
yet  preached  the  great  leading  truths  of  the  Gospel  in 
Gospel  language,  and  with  most  blessed  spiritual 
results  ?   We  do  not  forbid  these  men,  "  lay  preachers," 

*  James  ii.  20,  24.  The  more  eagerly  and  vehemently  we  set 
forth  in  the  free  Gospel  of  God's  grace  a  righteousness  which 
we  no  more  work  out  than  we  make  the  sun,  the  more  urgently 
should  we  press  on  men  that  the  true  acceptance  of  Jesus  as  Priest 
is  also  acceptance  of  Him  as  King.  Loose  living  among  profess- 
ing Christians  is  a  sad  foe  to  the  doctrines  of  grace. 


THE  MEDICINE  IS  GOOD.  247 

"  evangelists,"  or  whatever  else  they  may  be  called, 
because  in  our  judgment  they  are  unscientific  in 
thought  and  inconsecutive  in  speech.  We  are  glad 
of  their  results.  When  the  J^ew  England  farmers 
settled  on  the  prairies  of  Illinois,  and  found  the  fever 
and  ague  disputing  their  possession  of  the  place,  they 
acquired  enough  medical  skill  to  carry — like  Living- 
stone in  the  African  swamps — the  store  of  quinine, 
and  to  use  it  perhaps  with  some  disregard  of  the  pre- 
cision of  pharmacy.  And  even  so,  the  friends  who 
set  forth  the  Gospel  of  God's  grace,  with  some  viola- 
tions of  theological  proprieties,  yet  do  good — some- 
times where  they  do  not  know,  or  even  expect  it — • 
and  their  success  is  one  more  admonition  to  us  to 
wield  the  same  weapon,  or,  changing  the  figure,  to 
exhibit  the  same  remedy.  Even  when  we  have  to 
reason  and  argue,  the  most  cogent  and  convincing 
proofs  we  can  bring  to  our  audiences  will  be  from  the 
Word  of  God,  It  is  powerful  to  refute  and  con- 
vince.* 

*  "In  general,"  says  Dr.  Broadus,  "  rely  mainly  on  Scriptural 
arguments,  and  prefer  those  wlxich  are  plain  and  unquestion- 
able." A  Treatise  on  the  Prepakation  and  Delivery  of 
Sermons,  by  John  A.  Broadus,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  in  the 


248  FITNESS  IN  TEE  WORD. 

5.  There  is  a  power  we  legitimately  acquire  by  lay- 
ing bare,  from  the  Word,  man's  wants,  and  offering  a 
suitable  remedy.  Men  need  to  be  converted,  brought 
to  peace,  rest,  assurance. 

After  the  fashion  of  our  blessed  Lord,  *  of  his 
apostles,  f  after  the  fashion  of  the  Reformers  of 
the  sixteenth  centurj^,  of  tlie  Puritan  preachers,  of 
the  Reformers  of  the  last  century — "Whitfield,  Wes- 
ley, and  their  associates — let  us,  through  that  Word 
which  is  given  for  this  very  thing,  seek  the  con- 
version of  men,  directly,  immediately,  constantly. 

For  consider  what  is  their  attitude.  God  is  the 
one  supreme  object  worthy  of  affection,  trust, 
obedience.  He  is  fixed,  abiding,  immutable.  He 
is  a  fountain  always  full  and  for  all,  a  sun  always 
shining.  But  some  are  not  looking  to  Him  at  all. 
They  need  to  be  converted — turned  to  look  at  Him. 
Some   are    serving    dumb    idols — they   need   to   be 

Southern  Baptist  Seminary,  Greenville,  S.  C.  This  volume  is 
marked  particularly  by  fullness,  minuteness,  and  tlie  force  of 
"good  sense."  It  augurs  well  for  the  future  ministry  of  our 
Baptist  brethren  that  they  are  receiving  training  like  that  of  this 
book,  which  only  came  under  the  author's  notice,  he  regrets  to 
say,  when  ruost  of  these  lectures  had  been  written. 

*Matt.  xviii.  3.  fActs  iii.  19. 


ONE  WAY  FOB  ALL.  249 

turned  to  Him,  and  from  them.  Some  liave  beard 
of  Him,  and  are  deliberately  tm-ning  their  backs  on 
Him,  rejecting  Him,  saying  to  Him  :  "  What  have  I 
to  do  with  Thee  ? "  They  need  to  be  converted. 
And  some  who  have  turned  and  looked  to  Him  are 
looking  away,  or  trying  to  look  at  once  to  Him  and 
to  other  objects,  of  ambition,  or  indulgence,  or 
selfishness,  or  worldliness.  They  need,  like  Peter, 
to  be  "  converted  " — reconverted,  restored  ;.  and  the 
means  are  the  same  as  in  the  case  of  the  others,  and 
the  process  through  which  they  must  pass  is  not 
essentially  different.  They,  too,  must  repent,  and 
do  the  first  works.  There  is  not  an  open,  common 
way  by  which  sinners  come  to  the  mercy-seat,  and  a 
retired  and  private  way  for  backsliding  saints.  If 
disciples  go  back  into  the  ways  of  sinners,  as  sinners 
they  must  weep  bitterly  and  be  forgiven  and  re- 
stored. 

And  if  men  are  thus  alienated  from  God,  how 
cogent  are  the  reasons  for  our  seeking,  by  the 
means  He  gives  us,  their  conversion,  seeing  that 
in  a  way  that  must  remain  a  mystery  to  us 
here,  it  pleases  God  to  employ  human  instru- 
mentality   for    saving    purposes.       Remember    the 


250  ^SE  IT  EARNS  STL  T. 

doom  of  unbelief :  "  I  called  and  ye  refused.  I 
stretched  out  my  hand  and  no  man  regarded." 
Remember  the  words  from  the  lips  of  Incarnate 
mercy,  "  Depart  ye  cursed  !  "  Eemember  the  solemn 
and  judicial  statement,  "  He  that  hath  not  the  Son 
shall  not  see  life ;  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on 
him."  Nor  can  we  forget  the  danger  of  those  whoj 
without  apparent  deliberate  rejection  of  God's 
overtures,  practically  disregard  them.  "  How  shall 
we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation  ?  "  Could 
its  utter  impossibility  be  more  forcibly  suggested 
than  by  the  unanswerable  question  ?  That  there  was 
intelligence  only  aggravates  the  guilt,  and  intensifies 
the  doom.  I  know  how  some,  bending,  I  must  think, 
the  principles  of  exegesis  to  their  feelings  of  human- 
ity, substitute  "  end  of  being "  for  punishment ; 
but  we  cannot  well  read  that  the  servant  who  knew 
his  lord's  will  and  did  it  not  shall  be  annihilated, 
where  the  master  says  "  beaten  with  many  stripes." 
There  are  no  degrees  iu  annihilation.  We  are  not 
informed — for  the  Scriptures  are  practical,  and  never 
make  a  needless  parade  of  knowledge — regarding 
them  who  never  lieard  the  way  of  life ;  but  to  us 
the  appeal  may  well  be  made :    "  He  that  despised 


DIVINE  SANCTIONS.  251 

Moses'  law  died  without  mercy  under  two  or  tliree 
witnesses :  of  how  ranch  sorer  punishment,  suppose 
ye,  shall  he  be  thought  worthy,  who  hath  trodden 
under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  hath  counted  the 
blood  of  the  covenant,  wherewith  he  was  sanctified, 
an  unholy  thing,  and  hath  done  despite  unto  the 
Spirit  of  grace  ?  For  we  know  him  that  hath  said, 
Vengeance  belongeth  unto  me,  I  will  recompense, 
saith  the  Lord.  And  again.  The  Lord  shall  judge 
his  people.  It  is  a  fearfal  thing  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  living  God." 

It  may  seem  to  some  as  if  this  put  the  Lord  in  an 
unfavorable  light;  but  we  are  no  judges  of  such 
matters.  It  is  our  own  cause.  Probably  some  of 
the  juvenile  criminals  in  our  prisons  regard  the  laws 
that  keep  them  there  unfavorably.  But  that,  surely, 
is  no  reason  for  changing  the  laws.  Their  views 
can  neither  be  candid  nor  comprehensive;  and  the 
chasm  between  them  and  virtuous  citizens  is  nothing 
to  the  great  gulf  fixed  between  the  Lord  God 
Omnipotent  and  human  criminals.  * 

*It  is  alleged,  indeed,  that  figurative  language  is  confessedly 
employed  in  the  descriptions  of  the  future  of  the  impenitent, 
and  the   question  is  put  to  the   popular  mind — Shall  there  be 


252  DIVINE  GRACE. 

But  that  the  Scripturat  view  of  God's  anger  against 
impenitent  man  robs  God  of  His  majesty  is  a 
chimera.  If  it  has  ever  had  this  effect,  it  is  because 
the  presentation  has  been  incomplete.  The  "  severity  " 
has  been  detached  from  the  "goodness." 

For  another  reason  for  our  seeking  the  conversion 
of  men  is  found  in  God's  manifested  love  and  mercy 
in  Christ.  He  has  sent  His  Son.  The  atonement 
has  been  made.  All  things  are  ready.  His  hands 
are  stretched  out  in  entreaty.  His  voice  calls  men 
to  the  mercy-seat :  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  hear 
ye  l^im."  His  Son  left  behind  him  the  means  of 
reaching  and  inviting  the  race  :  any  limit  put  to  the 
giving  of  this  invitation  is  the  work  of  man,  not  of 
God.  His  servants  they  "  took,  and  beat  one,  and 
killed  another."  Yet  he  continues  to  send  them. 
His  Spirit  pleads  in  human  consciences — all  too  often 
in   vain.      "What   man   is   there    able  to  assert    the 

literal  fire  and  brimstone  ?  But  what  then  ?  Shall  there  be 
literal  streets  of  pure  gold  like  clear  glass  ?  This,  too,  is 
figurative  ;  but  does  it  prove  that  there  is  no  heaven  ?  Why  do 
men  use  figures  1  Because  they  mean  nothing  ?  Or  is  it  not 
because  common  didactic  speech  fails  to  convey  the  force  and 
vividness  of  the  intended  idea  ?  Figures  without  any  basis  of 
fact  would  be  falsehoods. 


BESEECHING  MEN.  253 

silence  of  a  voice  witliin  liim  ?  But  it  speaks 
innumerable  warnings  in  vain,  Imaginatioii,  lust, 
love  of  pleasure,  or  ease,  or  money,  or  power,  make 
their  reports  to  the  Will,  and,  affecting  sometimes  a 
great  show  of  fairness  and  deliberation,  it  decides 
against  Conscience  so  uniformly  that  the  wounded 
and  discouraged  monitor  retires  to  write  those  records 
of  contemptuous  refusal  that  shall  be  read  in  the  light 
of  the  judgment  day. 

Let  me  implore  you,  then,  dear  friends,  if  it 
please  God  to  put  you  into  the  ministry,  pre- 
pare your  sermons  from  tlie  Word,  and  order 
your  work  with  a  view  to  the  conversion  of 
men.  That  they  be  intelligent,  orderly,  cultured, 
is  well.  That  they  be  converted  is  the  consum- 
mation short  of  which  it  is  not  permitted  to 
you  to  stay  your  efforts.  Labor  to  "  present  every 
man  perfect  in  the  day  of  Christ."  Tell  them  that 
they  lose  by  every  day  they  stay  away  from  the 
Saviour,  even  if  they  be  saved  at  last.  Tell  them 
that  every  day's  delay  diminishes  the  likehhood  of 
their  turning  to  the  Lord,  for  the  heart  grows  accus- 
tomed to  evil,  an4  the  will  takes  its  set ;  tell  them 
that  every  day's  resistance  to  the  Spirit  increases  the 


254  DELA  T  IS  DANQEBO  VS. 

likeliliood  of  the  Si^irit's  witlidrawaL  Tell  them 
that  while  death's  arrows  are  in  every  wind,  they 
run  positive  risk  of  death  eternal.  Do  not  fear 
men's  frowns.  None  will  reproach  yon  for  fidelity 
in  the  day  of  accounts — none  on  their  deathbeds. 
Do  not  fear  the  alleged  "  current  of  opinion."  It  was 
thus  that  Edwards,  Brainard,  Dwight,  and  Payson, 
preached,  and  the  noblest  and  most  enduring  things 
in  IsTew  England  were  the  result.  If  the  sentiment 
of  the  time  is  against  their  way,  so  much  the  worse 
for  the  sentiment !  Paul  and  Peter  and  John  and 
James  so  "  reproved  and  rebuked  and  exhorted, 
with  all  long-suffering  and  doctrine."  Nor  is  this 
New  Testament  doctrine  only.  That  men  turn  to 
the  Lord  has  been  the  one  imperative  demand  of  all 
Scripture :  "  Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  why  will  ye  die  ? " 
The  one  unanswerable  appeal  from  Divine  mercy, 
and  the  one  way  of  reconciliation  and  sonship,  from 
the  first,  has  been  to  Jew  and  Gentile,  as  the 
Lord  said  by  Jeremiah  (xxiv.  7)  :  "  And  I  will  give 
thein  an  heart  to  know  me,  that  I  am  the  Lord :  and 
they  shall  be  my  people,  and  I  will  be  their  God : 
for  they  shall  return  unto  me  with  their  whole 
hearty 


"  I  BELIEVE  m  THE  HOL  T  GHOST."        255 

6.  And,  finally,  there  is  available  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  He  came  on  the  early  prophets  and 
their  words  became  oracles;  on  the  Son  of  Man,*  and 
He  spake  witli  authority ;  on  the  early  disciples,  and 
they  spake  as  with  tongues  of  fire. 

There  are,  indeed,  conditions  of  His  coming,  for 
God  gives  His  gifts  in  a  way  appropriate  to  their 
nature  and  to  that  of  their  recipients.  Prayer  is 
one  of  these,  easy  in  appearance,  difficult  in  reality  to 
our  proud  nature.  Most  men  will  find  it  easier  to 
preach  than  to  pray  in  secret. 

Renunciation  of  our  own  strength  is  implied.  "We 
must  be  emptied  of  self,  that  we  may  be  filled  with 
the  spirit.  The  tradition  still  lingers  in  the  place, 
after  two  centuries,  of  a  historical  sermon.  A  young 
minister  was  desired  to  preach  on  the  "  Communion- 
Monday,"  as  is  called,  in  Scotland  and  Ireland,  the 
day  after  the  Lord's  Supper  has  been  observed.  He 
trembled,  went  to  the  fields,  tried  to  evade  the  duty, 
was  brought  almost  by  violence :  and  five  hundred  souls 
dated  their  spiritual  impressions  from  the  sermon. 
Strength  was  perfected  in  felt  weakness. 

*  See  Isa.  Ixi. ,  and  Luke  iv.  18. 


256  CONDITIONS  OF  HIS  AID. 

Hard  loork  is  implied;  not  our  indolence  or  ease, 
but  labor,  is  tlie  channel  in  which  the  divine  energy 
flows.  We  must  labor  in  getting  possession  of  the 
truth,  in  telling  it,  and  in  following  up  our  public 
teaching  by  private  effort.  The  lesson  taught  by 
Quintilian,  and  ascribed  to  many  others,  we  must 
learn ;  bottles  must  have  the  water — not  thrown  on 
them  standing  in  rows,  but — poured  into  each,  one  by 
one,  if  they  are  to  be  filled. 

There  must  be  a  single  eye.  It  would  not  be  safe 
to  trust  success  in  the  hands  of  the  proud  and  self- 
seeking.  They  would  claim  the  glory  and  be  made 
worse. 

There  must  be  true  love  ^  to  the  good  our  supe- 
riors as  generous  admiration,  to  our  equals  as 
brotherly  affection,  to  the  vile  and  wicked  as  compas- 
sion. Love  lays  the  wires  along  which  the  fire  runs. 
Hearts  burning  with  hate  drive  away  the  gentle  dew. 
Shall  the  Holy  Dove  come  down,  great  as  the  need  is, 
where  anger,  wrath,  malice,  and  envy  make  a 
church  their  arena  ?  But  where  the  Spirit  comes  the 
feeblest  worker,  for  spiritual  purposes,  is  irresistible. 

But  what  shall  we  say  more — what  can  we  say 
more — than  our  Lord  said  to  His  disciples  ?  "  He  that 


THE  POWER  OF  CHRIST.  257 

believetli  on  me,  the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do 
also."  What !  unstop  deaf  ears,  open  blind  eyes, 
raise  the  dead  ?  Yes  ;  even  so,  nor  is  this  all :  "  And 
greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do,  because  I  go  to 
my  Father."  (John  xiv,  12.)  Greater !  Yes  ;  even 
so.  "  Greater "  in  •  numbers,  in  their  diffusion,  in 
their  startling  accompaniments — even  the  shadow  of 
Peter  healing — and  in  the  results  over  the  pagan 
world.  But  they  did  them  in  Him,  as  His ;  by  His 
Spirit,  for  He  fails  not  to  say,  "  Because  1  go  to  my 
Father."  He  sends  the  Spirit  down,  and  such  results 
follow  as  Peter's  sermon  produced. 

Oh !  for  this  Spirit  of  truth,  light,  love,  holiness, 
on  colleges  and  seminaries,  on  ministers  and  mission- 
aries, on  churches,  and  Christless  hearers  !  Without 
Him,  we  are  going  through  the  motions  of  God's 
army,  but  winning  few  conquests.  With  Him,  we  be- 
come a  victorious  host.  The  people  tall  under  Him. 
He  rules  in  the  midst  of  His  enemies,  "  Gird  thy 
sword  upon  thy  thigh,  O  most  mighty,  with  thy 
glory  and  thy  majesty.  And  in  thy  majesty  ride 
prosperously,  because  (in  the  cause)  of  truth,  and 
meekness,  and  righteousness." 


appe:n^dix. 


( Various  questions  liaving  been  put  in  writing,  a  separate  hour 
was  devoted  to  their  consideration.  Questions  and  answers  are 
here  given,  omitting  only  those  which  have  no  general  interest. 
Sometimes  one  paper  contained  more  than  one  query.) 


Would  it  not  aid  a  minister,  on  entering  a  new  parish,  to 
obtain,  at  Xlxe  first,  the  roll  of  members  of  the  church,  so  as  to 
know  who  they  are  ? 

I  can  hardly  think  of  a  minister  overlooking 
this  matter  at  the  very  outset ;  and  if  he  did  over- 
look it,  I  should  hope  deacons  or  elders  would  make 
the  suggestion.  If  they  do  not  work  themselves, 
they  ought  surely  to  be  a  kind  of  external  conscience 
to  the  pastor. 

In  making  the  acquaintance  of  the  people,  in  the  first  pastoral 
calls,  is  it  best  to  avoid  speaking  on  religious  topics,  unless  they 
are  suggested  by  the  other  parties  ;  and  to  make  the  acquaintance 
of  the  people  before  speaking  on  such  topics  in  pastoral  calls  ? 

Much   will    depend    on   circumstances.       If,   for 

example,  your  congregation   is   such   that   you   call 

once  in  every  couple  of  months,  as  many  can,  you 

may  defer  direct  introduction    of    religious  topics. 


260  PBEACE  CHRIST. 

So  also  if  yoii  are  being  taken  round  to  be  intro- 
duced. But  if  you  have  a  large  congregation,  and 
once  a  year  is  almost  as  much  as  you  can  hope  to  see 
the  families,  then  it  is  too  long  to  defer  the  business 
of  your  visit  till  some  time  in  the  second  year  of 
your  pastorate. 

Then,  again,  discrimination  must  be  made,  founded 
on  the  Tcind  of  the  families  and  individuals.  Some 
are  demonstrative ;  others,  no  less  true  and  good, 
shrink  from  the  expression  of  their  own  spiritual 
feelings. 

One  rule  is  safe  :  let  all  the  talking  with  the  mem- 
bers of  the  congregation  on  religion  be  about  their 
own,  and  not  their  neighbors'  religion.  Many  per- 
sons fluently  confess  the  sins  of  their  former  pastors, 
and  those  of  their  fellow-worshipers.  Do  not  hear 
.  such  confessions,  if  you  can  help  it. 

Ouglit  every  sermon  liave  Christ  for  tlie  focus  ? 

Every  sermon  ought  to  have  the  doctrine  of 
Christ  in  it  in  form  or  in  solution.  One  may  preach 
Christ  controversially,  non-evangelically ;  and  one 
may  preach  law,  commandments,  duties,  evangeli- 
cally. In  a  congregation  that  is  large,  frequented  by 
strangers,  with   many   non-communicants,   I  should 


•' FREE  SEATS"  SYSTEM.  261 

like  to  put  a  distinct  word  for  Christ  in  every 
address.  Nor  need  this  be  monotonous,  for  He  is 
offered  to  men  in  endless  variety  of  waj^^s. 

Is  it  well  to  follow  any  eystem  or  round  of  doctrine  in 
preaching  ? 

It  is  well  to  be  consecutive.  Imagine  the 
sermons  of  Dwight's  Theology  preached  without 
regard  to  subject,  and  their  diminished  value  to 
intelligent  hearers.  If  it  is  meant  to  follow  in  one's 
own  mind  any  system,  I  do  not  see  how  an  orderly 
mind  can  help  it.  One  is  as  much  bound  by  the 
laws  of  thought  to  have  a  system  of  doctrine  as  a 
botanist  to  have  a  system  of  botany.  He  sees  a 
plant,  and  cannot  help  thinking  where  it  belongs. 
So  a  theologian  feels  regarding  a  truth.  Truths  are 
in  families  as  much  as  plants,  and  like  human  fami- 
lies in  this,  that  if  you  know  one  member  well  you 
cannot  well  help  getting  introduced  to  the  others. 

HoAv  shall  we  reach  the  masses?  Will  not  free-seat  sys- 
tem, by  abolishing  class  distinction,  help  to  solve  this  problem  ? 

I  have  no  expectations  from  the  "  free-seat " 
system.  It  is,  in  my  judgment,  a  product  of  senti- 
ment and  ignorance  of  human  nature.  The  masses 
are  to  be  reached  as  leaven  reaches  the  masses  of 


262  WHITHER  TO  GO. 

dough.  It  infects  the  particles  next  it,  and  they  the 
next,  and  so  on.  I  should  hope  much  from  churches 
so  constructed  that  the  poorest  householders  could 
also  be  pewholders.  Giving  money  to  support  reli- 
gion is  a  part  of  a  religious  education. 
How  do  you  make  prayer-meetings  interesting  ? 
This  whole  subject  is  mixed  up.  "Interesting" 
to  whom  ?  The  Lord  ?  The  suppliants  ?  The  spec- 
tators ?  The  only  way  is  to  teach  men  to  pray ;  to 
eliminate  those  who  preach,  or  rhapsodize,  or  scold,  or 
"  lament,"  interminably ;  to  promote  general  fervor 
among  the  people,  and  apply  to  the  meeting  the  ordi- 
nary principles  of  Christian  common  sense.  I  would 
not  set  much  store  by  "  interesting  "  prayer-meetings 
by  themselves.  I  have  known  of  such  that  were  little 
more  than  a  young  people's  frolic.  The  prayer-meeting 
will  be  as  the  taste  and  as  the  life  of  the  congregation. 

Please   say  something  about  choosing  a  field.      At  home  or 
abroad  ?    East  or  West  1 

No  one  can  give  general  directions  here  of  any 

value.     A  man  with   no  facility  for  learning  new 

tongues  should  not  go  to  a  foreign  field.     A  man 

wdiose  nature  is   not  elastic,  who   is  offended  with 

new  things,  ought  not  to  go  "West.      One  must  con- 


ABOUT  THE  SINGING-.  263 

sider  his  own  aptitudes ;  and  when  he  has  done  his 
best  to  reach  a  condusion,  he  may  find  himself 
where  he  never  thought  he  was  fit  for.  A  man  must 
put  himself  at  his  Master's  disposal,  and  be  ready  to 
go  where  the  way  seems  open.  It  is  a  nice  thing 
when  the  field  chooses  him. 

Wliat  is  your  opinion  of  the  plan,  wliicli  laaa  been  adopted 
in  some  places,  of  substituting  a  Bible-exercise  for  the  second  ser- 
mon on  Sunday  ? 

If  we  got  parishes,  like  handfuls  of  dough,  to 
be  molded  as  we  please,  a  Bible-exercise  might  be  a 
good  second  service  ;  but  we  do  not.  There  are  the 
"  traditions  of  the  elders,"  and  violent  dealing  with 
them  and  the  alienation  of  good  people  more  than 
outweigh  the  good.  Here  and  there  "  Bible-exer- 
cises," while  fresh,  or  in  the  hands  of  versatile  men, 
do  much;  but  there  is  often  a  drawback.  Get  up 
Bible- classes.  Teach  them  yourself.  Get  others  to 
teach  them,  and  make  your  second  sermon  a  good 
Bible-exercise.  We  must  teach  the  people  as  they 
are  able  to  bear  it. 

Do  you  include  choir  singing  among  the  fine  arts  which  are 
not  of  assistance  to  the  preacher  of  the  gospel  ? 

Whenever  singing  is  so  elaborate  that  the  people 


264  THE  DOCTORS. 

cannot  join,  it  is  an  evil ;  and  it  matters  little 
whether  the  evil  is  from  solo,  quartette,  or  choir. 
And  if  the  whole  congregation  came  to  sing  so  that 
the  attention  would  be  largely  fixed  on  the  singing, 
it  would  be  an  evil  too.  Everybody  laughs  at 
the  story  of  "  the  most  eloquent  prayer  ever  ad- 
dressed to  the  people  of  Boston."  There  is  the 
same  underljnng  absurdity  to  me  in  the  praise  of 
God  being  "  grand."  Grand  to  whom  ?  (See  Ps. 
li.  17  and  Isa.  Ixvi.  1,  2.) 

'  It  lias  appeared  to  me  that  the  ministrations  of  the  pastor  to 
the  sick  are  often  hurtful  to  the  work  of  the  physician.  For 
instance;  the  favorable  issue  of  a  certain  case,  the  doctor  is  as- 
sured, depends  almost  entirely  upon  quietness  and  absence 
of  things  that  would  bring  excitement.  The  pastor,  in  his  kind 
consolation,  speaks  of  future  hopes,  which  will  immediately  con- 
vey to  the  mind  of  the  sick  person  the  idea  that  his  is  considered 
a  doubtful  case.  This,  unless  the  person  is  already  well 
resigned,  and,  perhaps,  then,  will  bring  more  or  less  of  excite- 
ment, which  may  be  damaging. 

This  will,  perhaps,  indicate  what  is  meant.  Will  you  please 
give  us  some  suggestions  upon  this  matter?  And,  as  a  result  of 
your  experience,  how  far,  do  you  conclude,  the  pastor  should,  as 
a  matter  of  discretion  as  well  as  courtesy,  commit  himself  to  the 
directions  of  the  physician,  as  to  when  and  how  far  these  things 
should  be  spoken  of  ? 

Physicians  are  like  other  men — wise  and  otherwise  ; 

but  they  are  physicians,  and  when  a  man  puts  him- 


PATIENTS'  RIGHTS.  2G5 

self,  or  is  placed  by  his  friends,  in  a  physician's 
hands,  the  physician  is  master  at  his  own  discretion. 
I  may  have  reason  to  think  a  parishioner  is  trusting 
his  affairs  in  the  hands  of  a  lawyer  of  defective 
wisdom  or  integrity,  but  1  have  no  right  and  no  call, 
unless  consulted,  to  urge  my  opinion  on  my  parish- 
ioner. So,  if  the  doctor  says  his  patient  is  to  see  no 
one,  I  have  no  call  to  go.  It  is  a  part  of  a  man's 
liberty,  as  regards  me,  to  trust  his  money  in  the 
hands  of  anybody,  and  to  commit  himself  to  a  doctor 
'  absolutely ;  and  in  the  case  described  I  have  no 
responsibility.  Practically,  I  have  had  no  difficulty 
with  medical  men.  It  will  usually  be  found  that 
where  they  say  a  visit  is  useless,  on  account  of  the 
mental  condition  of  the  patient,  they  are  right. 

At  the  same  time,  I  think  doctors  sometimes 
mistake  as  to  the  effect  of  a  prayer,  for  example. 
Men  are  as  often  soothed  and  quieted  as  disturbed 
by  religious  truth.  Of  course  a  minister  should  have 
common  sense  in'  his  visits.  But  that  is  an  element 
which  neither  profession  can  secm-e  in  the  members 
of  the  other. 

And  it  does  seem  to  me  absurd,  in  a  Christian 
country,  perhaps  family,  for  a  man,  about  whose 
12 


266-  CONTROVERSIAL  SERMON'S. 

relation  to  God  and  eternity  nothing  is  known,  to  be 
kept  in  the  doctor's  hands  till  there  is  not  a  hope  for 
his  life — till,  perhaps,  his  brain  is  wandering  or  he  is 
comatose — and  then  call  the  clergyman.  But  the 
trouble  is  that  so  many  are  keenly  solicitous  about 
getting  human  care  for  the  body,  and  so  willing  to 
run  risks  in  a  world  where  loss  or  safety  is  not  cog- 
nizable. I  remember  a  bright  woman,  a  physician's 
daughter,  mentioning  to  me  that  a  medical  man  had 
been  brought  to  see  a  gentleman,  whose  fee  exceeded 
the  annual  income  of  the  patient's  clergyman. 
"  "Well,"  said  she,  "  it  shows  how  much  more  men 
think  of  their  bodies  than  their  souls."  It  was  not 
logical,  but  it  had  a  basis  of  fact. 

Suppose  a  missionary  of  the  Mormon  Cliurch.  (or,  as  lie 
would  call  it,  of  the  "Reorganized  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter  Day  Saints  ")  comes  into  a  town  and  plants  a  church, 
what  is  the  duty  of  the  ministers  of  other  churches  in  town, 
and  what  their  wisest  course  ? 

I  am  interested  in  this,  because  such  a  church  has  lately  been 
planted  in  the  town  where  I  live,  and  may  be,  I  suppose,  in  any 
other  town. 

One  must  consider  the  circumstances.  Ministers 
may  advertise  obscure  errors  into  notoriety  or  appar- 
ent importance.    The  circulation  of  a  terse  and  timely 


WOMEN  IN  CHURCH.  *  267 

tract,  the  use  of  a  newspaper  column,  or  the  lesson 
in  the-  Bible-class,  may  warn,  or,  better  still,  pre- 
occupy with  the  opposed  truth.  Kot  that  I  have  any 
fear  of  controversy  honestly  and  ably  conducted. 
But  it  must  have  an  adequate  and  good  purpose.  I 
heard,  the  other  day,  of  a  minister  who  always  got 
into  conlroversial  preaching  when  the  warm  weather 
made  people  drowsy.  He  kept  them  listening  by 
showing  up  the  rival  denominations. 

I  would  like  to  ask  about  the  experience  of  a  minister. 
What   relation   should   his   preaching  bear  to  his  experience? 

One  who  honestly  expounds  God's  word  will 
often  set  forth  experiences  he  may  not  have :  if,  for 
example,  he  expounds  the  Ephesians.  But  he  will 
set  them  forth  as  Paul's.  If  he  has  no  rapturous  feel- 
ings of  his  own  he  will  not  speak — if  he  is  perfectly 
truthful — as  if  he  had  just  been  in  the  third  heavens. 
A  preacher  ought  to  avoid  every  falsetto  note.  When 
he  can  say  "  I  know  this,  from  experience,  to  be 
true,"  let  him  say  it. 

If  I  have  rightly  understood  an  illustration  given  in  your  lec- 
ture on  February  26,  you  fully  recognize  the  fact  that  inactivity 
not  only  tends  to  paralyze  the  inactive  menabers  of  the  body,  but 
also  to  enfeeble  the  other  members. 

Is  it  not,  then,  the  duty  of  a  Christian  minister  to  insist  upon. 


268  SO  W  MUCH  STUD  T. 

that  the  Christian  women  should  take  an  active  part  in  prayer- 
meetings  ? 

Does  not  the  silence  of  the  women  tend  to  diminish  the  activity 
of  the  male  members  of  the  church  ?  And  does  it  not  produce 
much  of  that  dragging  and  dullness  which  is  so  prevalent 
in  prayer-meetings  ? 

Inactivity  of  a  Churcli  where  it  ought  to  he  active  is 
paralysis,  and  a  paralyzed  man,  unable  to  take  exer- 
cise, gets  other  maladies.  An  idle  Church  gets  fatty 
degeneration  of  the  heart ;  or  it  gets  to  be  censorious, 
quarrelsome,  or  something  undesirable.  But  this 
argument  vailed  under  a  question,  hegs  the  question. 
My  statement  had  respect  to  neglected  duty.  It 
assumes  that  it  is  the  duty  of  Christian  women  to 
take  an  active  part  in  mixed  meetings.  But  that  is 
in  dispute.  Whether  women's  active  aid,  as  speakers 
or  leaders,  would  improve  the  prayer-meeting,  as 
such,  I  cannot  tell.  I  think  it  would  make  them 
more  "  lively  "  sometimes.  I  am  strongly  in  favor  of 
women's  prayer-meetings ;  and  the  most  of  the  good 
Christian  women  I  know  would  rather  attend  a  dull 
mixed  meeting  than  lead  it  in  prayer.  But  I  do  not 
judge  the  excellent  persons  who  think  otherwise. 

About  what  proportion  of  a  pastor's  time  should  be  devoted 
to  pastoral  work,  and  how  much  to  his  studies  1 

I  think  a  minister  in  good  health,  and  doing  his 


TO  GET  THE  PEOPLE  OUT.  269 

work  easily  and  naturally,  should  visit  some  on  at 
least  five  days  of  every  week.  I  have  done  that  for 
months  together,  and  would  do  it  now  if  it  were  not 
for  interminable  boards,  committees,  and  other  dis- 
tractions of  which  the  Millennial  Church  will  be  free. 
A  few  hours  a  day  spent  in  visiting  give  exercise, 
bodily,  intellectual,  moral.  One  studies  better  for  it. 
"  Are  there  not  twelve  hours  in  the  day  ? "  Each 
man  must  determine  how  much  is  to  be  given  to 
study;  only  let  him  not  call  it  study  when  he  is 
lying  on  the  sofa,  laughing  over  "  The  Innocents 
AbroadP 

How  can  a  minister  find  out  what  is  the  best  literature  of 
the  day,  and  how  can  he  most  easily  and  effectually  keep  up  with 
the  most  advanced  knowledge  of  the  day  in  connection  with  his 
regular  duties  1 

A   good  review,  the  talk  of  his  brethren,  and  a 

clerical  club,  ought  to  keep  him  acquainted  with  good 

books.    It  is  a  great  snare  to  many  men  to  be  abreast 

of  the  literature  of  the  time.     What  does  a  parish  in 

Maine  care  about  the  writer  of  Shakespeare,  or  the 

author  of  Junius'  Letters  ? 

In  our  country  towns,  probably,  not  half  of  the  population 
attend  churches.  How,  or  by  what  measures,  can  this  outside 
population  be  effectually  reached  ? 


270  CLERICAL  MANNERS. 

Preach  so  that  those  who  attend  will  report  favor- 
ably, and  then  go  to  the  houses  of  the  non-attendants 
and  confirm  the  report.  I  have  labored  for  five  years 
to  get  persons  to  church,  and  been  rewarded  with  suc- 
cess. Our  people  could  help  us  in  that  effort  if  they 
would. 

Have  you  any  opinion  regarding  clerical  smoking  ? 

Yes,  a  very  unfavorable  opinion.  I  was  brought 
up  to  think  badly  of  it ;  so  you  may  discount  my ' 
view.  But  I  cannot  but  think  that  the  flavor  of 
smoking  is  offensive  to  many  delicate  persons,  and  it 
is  difficult  to  many  to  smoke  and  lack  some  odor  of 
it.  Many  "  nice  "  people,  even  though  some  of  their 
own  family  smoke,  dislike  it  in  ministers.  I  think 
it  often  injurious  and  not  often  necessary,  and  would 
advise  those  who  have  not  become  dependent  on 
tobacco  to  preserve  their  freedom. 

Is  any  account  to  be  made  of  clerical  manners  ? 

Undoubtedly :  a  clergyman  has  no  more  right  to 
be  rude,  slovenly,  or  ill-bred,  than  any  other  gentle- 
man. He  may  be  ignorant  of  some  of  the  forms  of 
artificial  society ;  but  he  will  be  forgiven  if  he  has 


READ  SELECTIONS.  271 

obviously  gentle  feeling.     Ko  minister  ought  to  take 
liberties  because  be  is  a  minister. 

Should  there  be  devotional  exercises  at  every  pastoral  visit  ? 

Kot  necessarily ;  company,  interruptions,  or  occu- 
pation of  the  family  may  render  reading  or  prayer, 
or  both,  undesirable.  But  a  minister  should  make  his 
people  understand  that  he  is  always  happy  to  be 
invited :  and  as  far  as  possible,  he  should  encourage 
the  people  to  admit  him  to  the  living  room.  How 
much  time  city  ministers  lose  in  looking  at  drawing- 
room  furniture ! 

Would  it  be  wise  for  a  minister  to  give  selections,  occasion- 
ally, to  his  people,  instead  of  his  own  ? 

Perhaps  so.  But  he  should  announce  them  as 
selections.  That  is  demanded  by  honesty  ;  and  soon 
the  people  would  feel  that  they  could  select  for  them- 
selves, and  want  another  minister. 

What  relation  should  the  text  bear  to  the  sermon  ? 
The  text  should  sustain,  suggest,  and   give  tone 
to  the  sermon.     The  main  thought  of  the  texf  should 
usually  be  the  main  thought  of  the  sermon.     A  text 
must  not  be  made  a  pretext. 


272  WORDS  EEGALLED. 

In  delmering  your  sermons,  to  what  extent  do  you  recall  tlie 
language  in  whicli  they  were  written  f 

When  you  have  once  put  a  thought  into  the  best 
language  you  know,  and  have  to  repeat  the  thought, 
the  mind  will  readily  run  in  the  same  track,  and  with- 
out effort.  But  no  attempt  is  made  to  recall  the 
language,  except  where  something  turns  on  a  word. 
In  point  of  fact,  only  a  small  proportion  of  the  phrase- 
ology is  reproduced.  J^o  effort  should  be  made  to 
remember  structure  of  sentences,  or  collocations  of 
phrases,  or  even  place  of  paragraphs.  If  a  paragraph 
does  not  come  in  naturally,  let  it  go. 

Should  the  writing  of  a  sermon  be  commenced  before  all  the 
material  is  collected  and  orderly  arranged  ? 

I  think  it  is  better  to  be  in  possession  of  enough 
materials,  and  an  arrangement,  before  you  begin  the 
final  writing.  Tou  may  leave  out  some  of  your  ma- 
terial, and  find  new  and  better,  as  you  advance.  But 
it  is  wise  to  have  enough  at  the  beginning.  Most 
ministers  have  pieces  of  sermons  that  never  got  them- 
selves finished — "untimely  figs,"  of  no  use  to  any 
human  interest. 

Should  a  minister  entirely  avoid  theatrical  and  operatic  per 
f  ormances  ? 


SEEING  LADIES.  273 

I  am  a  poor  authority  on  this.  I  never  saw  a  play 
acted  ;  never  was  at  the  opera  in  my  life. 

I  presume  there  is  a  difference  between  the  two.  I 
find  ministers  speaking  on  both  sides  of  the  theater 
question  in  the  same  sermon.  All  the  evidence  I 
have  yet  seen  is  to  the  effect  that — whatever  its 
abstract  powers  might  be — the  theater  is,  in  point  of 
fact,  mischievous  on  the  whole.  The  best  evidence 
of  its  effect  is  that  the  pure  pjays  cannot  get  players 
or  spectators.  Those  of  Shakespeare  are,  it  is  alleged, 
kept  on  the  stage  at  a  ruinous  cost.  The  average 
play-goer  must  have  his  moral  teaching  at  the  theater 
highly  spiced,  and  increasingly  so  from  year  to  year. 
So  I  never  go,  never  advise  any  one  to  go,  am  sorry 
when  I  hear  of  Christians  going,  and  think  a  minis- 
ter's usefulness  hi  danger  from  going. 

Many  say  that  a  minister  should  never  speak  to  a  female 
alone.    What  is  wise  on  that  subject? 

Such  a  rule  is  absurd  and  impossible  in  practice. 
No  minister  ever  held  to  it.  Much  nonsense  has  been 
talked  and  written,  especially  lately,  on  this  subject. 
I  have  seen  articles  in  religious  papers  that  were  a 
libel  on  the  Christian  Church ;  as  if  Christian  women, 
12* 


274  DOUBTFUL  PERSONS. 

as  a  whole,  could  not  be  trusted  to  talk  to  ministers 
without  irregular  affections  springing  up  !  A  min- 
ister should  receive  all  ladies  at  his  own  house,  not  at 
his  study  in  the  church,  and  not  once  in  a  century 
will  any  inconvenience  arise  from  seeing  all  ladies 
who  come,  in  that  way.  I  see  every  lady  who  unites 
with  the  Church  in  my  study.  If,  as  sometimes  hap- 
pens, a  female  comes,  unknown  to  me,  unintroduced 
or  undefined,  I  hand  her  over  to  my  wife. 


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Date  Due 

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